In the Carpathian region, a man who justified Russia’s aggression and was hiding in the woods was convicted
The Verkhovyna District Court in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast sentenced a man who justified Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to three years in prison. During his arrest, he attempted to flee from Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officers and hid for several days in a forested area near the border with Romania.
According to the court’s verdict, the defendant used his personal Facebook account to disseminate content that justified Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and distorted the facts of the armed aggression. Specifically:
On July 4, 2023, the man shared a video justifying Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and accusing the Ukrainian authorities of “failing to comply with the Minsk Agreements”;
On December 8, 2024, he left a comment under a post in which he directly accused Ukrainian politicians of starting the war, ignoring the fact of Russia’s armed attack.
On May 28, 2025, at 4:47 a.m., law enforcement officers conducted an authorized search at the suspect’s residence in the village of Perehresne. During the search, investigators discovered and seized a cell phone with an active Facebook account in the room.
After reading him the written notice of suspicion and placing him under arrest, the investigator ordered that the man be escorted to the police vehicle.
Taking advantage of the fact that his handcuffs had been removed so he could say goodbye to his mother and minor relatives, the suspect physically assaulted the head of the Verkhovyna District Department of the Security Service of Ukraine—he shoved him hard in the chest. As a result of the blow, the law enforcement officer lost his balance and fell to the ground, while the suspect jumped over a 1.5-meter fence and fled toward the forest.
The fugitive walked through the forest to the village of Dovhopole, crossed the river, and reached the Chernivtsi region. Just three days later, on the night of May 31, 2025, he was tracked down and detained by SBU officers and border guards in a house in the village of Verkhniy Yalivets near the Ukrainian-Romanian border.
During the court hearing, the defendant did not admit guilt. He convinced the court that he had not pushed anyone, but had simply fled out of fear of arrest, and claimed that sharing the video was an “expression of free speech.” He also claimed that other people allegedly had access to his account, but he did not file any reports with the police or take any steps to change his password.
The Verkhovyna District Court of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast ruled to find the man guilty of committing the crimes provided for in Part 1 of Article 436–2 (justification of armed aggression by the Russian Federation), Part 2 of Article 436–2 (dissemination of materials justifying aggression), and Part 2 of Article 342 (resisting a law enforcement officer) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment without confiscation of property.
In addition, the convicted person must pay 29,564.32 UAH to the state to cover the costs of forensic linguistic examinations.
The verdict may be appealed to the Ivano-Frankivsk Court of Appeals within 30 days.
Source: TSN
As a reminder, the SBU, the State Bureau of Investigation, and the National Police have uncovered 11 more schemes to evade mobilization in various regions of Ukraine.
The SBU exposed hackers who created a fake “Reserve+” app to evade mobilization.
In the Sumy region, a scheme to evade mobilization involving judges and lawyers was uncovered.
