A Russian-controlled court in occupied Crimea sentenced a 33-year-old local resident to 15 years in a strict regime colony on charges of state treason, Russia's prosecutor's office reported on Dec. 9.
The man was accused of transmitting information about the movement of Russian military equipment and a military facility under construction to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense between December 2022 and March 2023.
The ruling was issued by the so-called “Supreme Court” established by the Russian occupation authorities.
Russian-installed courts in Crimea have escalated repressions since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Krym.Realii reported on Nov. 3 that 472 rulings for "discrediting" the Russian military have been issued in Crimea since February 2022.
Moscow's sweeping censorship laws, introduced in March 2022, effectively criminalize criticism of the war or narratives contradicting Russian propaganda.
The European Court of Human Rights condemned Russia on June 25 for systematic human rights violations in Crimea since its illegal annexation in 2014.
The court found that Russia carried out a "campaign of repression" targeting pro-Ukrainian individuals, which included disappearances, fabricated charges, suppression of Ukrainian media and education, and forced transfers to Russian prisons.
The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek