Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal Confirmed the Legality of the Verdict for Treason

The Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal upheld the verdict against a resident of Kamianets-Podilskyi district who, under martial law conditions, assisted the enemy in conducting subversive activities against Ukraine. The court rejected the appeals of the defendant and his defender.

According to the verdict, a 36-year-old Ukrainian citizen in the fall of 2024 established contact with a representative of the Russian FSB and for several months transmitted information via messenger about the locations and movements of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the location of military equipment, weapons, ammunition, and checkpoints.

The collected and transmitted information could have been used by the aggressor state to prepare and adjust missile and drone strikes, plan sabotage and terrorist acts, which posed a threat to the lives and health of servicemen, destruction of military equipment, property, military facilities, and caused damage to Ukraine's defense capability and national security.

The defendant was detained on December 2, 2024. At the time of detention, he was searching in Khmelnytskyi for an object to set on fire — a garbage container.

That morning, he carried out another task from his handler: he set fire to a camouflage-colored Nissan X-Trail car used by a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the yard of a multi-story building. The defendant sent a video recording of the arson to the FSB representative and received payment in cryptocurrency in return.

The Khmelnytskyi City District Court found him guilty of treason committed under martial law (Part 2, Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during a special period (Part 1, Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and intentional damage to another's property by arson (Part 2, Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment with confiscation of property.

In the appeals, the defendant and his defender requested to partially overturn the verdict and reclassify the actions from treason to unauthorized dissemination of information about the movement, relocation, or location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Part 3, Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The defense argued that the defendant did not know he was communicating with a representative of the aggressor state, had no intention to assist subversive activities against Ukraine, and acted solely out of mercenary motives.

The appellants claimed that the transmitted information did not constitute state secrets and did not contain data about the location or movement of weapons, military equipment, or personnel.

The Court of Appeal found these arguments unfounded. The panel of judges noted that the content of the correspondence and the defendant's actions indicated his awareness of the nature of the tasks received and that they were carried out in the enemy's interests. The court also concluded that the transmission of information about military facilities and the execution of other handler's tasks collectively indicated assistance in conducting subversive activities against Ukraine, which constitutes treason.

The Court of Appeal also agreed with the imposed sentence. The panel noted that the first-instance court took into account that the defendant is a serviceman, has a moderate service record, was previously repeatedly convicted, is unmarried, has no dependents, committed several criminal offenses, one of which is a particularly serious crime against the foundations of Ukraine's national security. The mitigating circumstance was sincere remorse, while aggravating circumstances included recidivism and committing the crime in a generally dangerous manner.

The full text of the Court of Appeal's ruling in case No. 686/11585/25 can be found in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel t.me/sudua, Google News SUD.UA here, as well as our VIBER and WhatsApp pages, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay informed about the most important events.