In Lviv Oblast, a court sentenced a former soldier to 15 years in prison for treason
The Halytskyi District Court of Lviv has handed down a guilty verdict against a 53-year-old former serviceman from one of the military units.
The man was found guilty of treason and the systematic dissemination of materials justifying the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine.
Prosecutors from the Lviv Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Defense in the Western Region fully proved the defendant’s guilt during the court hearing.
Investigators established that the perpetrator began his illegal activities while already in custody.
While in pretrial detention, driven by ideological motives and pro-Russian views, he found a way to access the social network “Odnoklassniki,” which is banned in Ukraine, and actively used it.
Throughout September and October 2023, the detainee regularly liked and posted propaganda messages on his page.
The former senior soldier actively supported anti-Ukrainian slogans and glorified the occupying forces.
In particular, he liked content such as: “Our cause is just… victory will be ours! …hit ‘Like’!”, “Putin 2024. We support Putin”, “We will return victorious”, “…this is not the start of a war, but an attempt to end it”, “The end is nigh for the Ukrainians… Russia is our common home… Akhmat is strength! Russia is power!”, “Denazification of Ukraine”, “Heroes of Z… destroyed… the nationalists”, “Combat Buryats – …the nightmare of the Ukrainians”, etc.
Law enforcement officials conducted a comprehensive investigation into the defendant’s recorded online activity.
A forensic linguistic, semantic, and textual analysis confirmed that these materials contain signs of support, approval, and justification of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine. This served as substantial evidence in the criminal proceedings.
Subsequently, hostile intelligence services recruited the defendant to carry out more serious tasks for the benefit of the aggressor country.
In November 2023, the senior soldier agreed to cooperate with Russian agents and facilitate subversive activities against Ukraine.
Specifically, he was to photograph critical infrastructure sites, transmit the images via Telegram, and provide their coordinates. In exchange for this work, his handlers promised the traitor a monetary reward.
To carry out his criminal plan, the man decided to enlist the help of those closest to him.
The former soldier attempted to involve his own wife in carrying out the tasks, but she realized the illegality of such actions and reported them to law enforcement.
Thanks to the woman’s conscientious action, the special services blocked the transfer of strategic data in time.
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