A military court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced an unnamed resident of Ukraine's Lugansk region to 16 years in prison on charges of "high treason."
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) accused the individual of providing sensitive information about the Russian armed forces to Ukraine's security services. Additionally, the court found him guilty of aiding terrorist activities and illegally handling and transporting explosives.
The sentence mandates that he serve his time in a high-security penal colony.
A video released by the FSB, accompanying the court's decision, shows the dramatic arrest of the suspect. In the footage, officers are seen stopping a car, forcibly removing the suspect, handcuffing him, and escorting him to the local FSB headquarters.
The man's face was blurred in the video, but he reportedly claimed during the trial that he had been recruited by Ukraine’s SBU security service in 2016.
This case is part of a broader pattern of severe penalties imposed by Russia on individuals accused of collaborating with Ukraine or opposing Kremlin policies. President Vladimir Putin has been vocal about the need for stringent anti-terror measures, urging security agencies to "identify spies and traitors" and disrupt foreign intelligence operations.
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