Two Ukrainians sentenced on ‘espionage’ charges in Crimea

The so-called Supreme Court in the temporarily occupied Crimea sentenced two Ukrainian citizens to 15 and 16 years in prison on "espionage" charges.

"Defendant M. Petrovsky was sentenced to 16 years in prison with serving the sentence in a strict-regime correctional colony, defendant S. Kotov – 15 years in prison with serving the sentence in a strict-regime correctional colony," RFE/RL’s Crimea.Realities project reports.

The case was considered at a closed hearing due to information that allegedly constitutes a state secret.

Since 2014, at least 16 Ukrainian citizens have been convicted in Crimea and Sevastopol on "espionage" and "sabotage" charges. In particular, in 2015, the Russian court sentenced director Oleg Sentsov to 20 years in prison on charges of plotting terrorist attacks. Also, the Russian security forces accuse representatives of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic political organization of "sabotage".

As reported, the Russian invaders sentenced a resident of Simferopol to 12 years on charges of "espionage" in favor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.