A man who directed Russian shelling of Kherson was sentenced to life in prison
A court sentenced a Russian agent who helped Russian troops carry out strikes on Kherson to life in prison. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), he provided the occupiers with the coordinates of dozens of targets, including a high school, a hospital, and other civilian facilities.
The man was detained back in August 2024. The court found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to life in prison with confiscation of property.
According to the investigation, the convicted man was a local unemployed resident whom Russian intelligence services recruited because of his openly pro-Russian stance. He repeatedly expressed his views on social media, which is how he came to the occupiers’ attention.
After being recruited, the man received instructions from his handler and began gathering information on potential targets in Kherson. He walked around the city and its outskirts, photographed sites, marked them on Google Maps, and transmitted the coordinates to a representative of the Russian special services who was stationed on the temporarily occupied left bank of the Kherson region.
According to the SBU, the agent is responsible for 39 confirmed instances of guiding Russian strikes. The occupiers used the transmitted coordinates to launch attacks with aerial bombs, missiles, and artillery. The main targets of the Russian shelling were civilian infrastructure facilities. Among them were a city lyceum, a hospital, and other buildings with no military purpose.
After each strike, the agent would return to the site. He would assess the damage, photograph the destruction, and report to his handler on how accurately Russian forces had hit the designated targets. “After the shelling, the spotter conducted follow-up reconnaissance at the sites of the enemy ‘strikes’ to determine and report the consequences of the strikes to the Russian intelligence officer,” the SBU reported.
During searches, law enforcement officers seized the man’s smartphone. They found evidence of his collaboration with Russian intelligence services, including correspondence, coordinates of targets, and reports on the extent of the destruction following the attacks. Based on the evidence gathered, the court found the man guilty of treason. He was sentenced to the most severe punishment—life imprisonment with confiscation of all his property.
The Security Service emphasized that efforts to expose agents who are helping Russian troops carry out strikes on Ukrainian cities are ongoing. This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine.
As a reminder, in Volyn, the BEB uncovered tax evasion totaling nearly ₴28 million in the flower business.
The Security Service returned over 13 million hryvnias to the budget.
