Russian-Ukrainian Man Jailed 22 Years for Pro-Kyiv Treason – The Moscow Times

A Russian court in its western Kursk region on Thursday sentenced a Russian-Ukrainian man to 22 years in prison for trying to blow up a political office and handing information to Kyiv.

Russia has sentenced dozens of people to years in prison on allegations of cooperating with Ukraine since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began nearly three years ago.

The military court in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a shock cross-border offensive in August and still controls some territory, found Sergei Chernooky, 30, guilty of treason and terrorism, it announced Thursday.

It said he detonated an explosive device in the reception of a local political party’s offices and also transferred information on Russian transport infrastructure to Ukrainian intelligence

Chernooky, held in a glass and metal cage in the court, closed his eyes as the verdict was read out, video published by the court on Telegram showed.

“There was absolutely no damage, it’s too harsh a sentence,” he said, pledging to appeal the verdict.

The court said he was a “Ukrainian native” with Russian citizenship who lived in the town of Zheleznogorsk in the Kursk region.

In a separate case, a Russian court in occupied Ukraine sentenced a man to 14 years in prison for treason and public calls for extremism.

A court in the Kherson region said the man, living in territory under the control of Russian forces, had given information on Russian military positions to Ukraine’s army, to help them target strikes.

Prosecutors also accused him of calling online for attacks on Russian-installed officials and administration buildings in Nova Kakhovka, a town under Russia’s control on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.