MOSCOW: A Russian court on Friday sentenced two men to 14 and 16 years in prison in annexed Crimea on treason charges, accusing them of collaborating with Kyiv’s security services.
One of the sentences, a 16-year term, was handed down to Nikolai Lozenko, a 53-year-old resident of Sevastopol. He was found guilty of sharing military information with Ukrainian authorities.
According to the FSB security service, Lozenko was recruited by Kyiv’s security services in 2017 while in Melitopol, a city currently under Russian control. In 2022, he allegedly sent footage of Russian forces to Ukraine.
In addition, an unnamed 62-year-old man received a 14-year sentence for attempting to kill a Russian soldier in the northern Crimean town of Dzankoi. Russian news agencies reported that he had planted an explosive device under the serviceman’s car in September 2023, but the plot was thwarted by the FSB.
Moscow has consistently prosecuted individuals in Crimea, which was annexed in 2014 and has been used as a launch point for attacks against Ukraine since 2022, for purportedly collaborating with Ukrainian interests.
