You're reading: Russian man in Bryansk sentenced to 12 years for spying for Ukraine

BRYANSK - The Bryansk regional court has handed down a verdict to a Russian citizen, Viktor Shut, for having committed high treason in the form of espionage.

“Shur has been found guilty of conducting, while being a Russian citizen, intelligence activity in Bryansk region on December 9, 2014, by gathering information, which constitutes a state secret about a secret facility of the Russian Defense Ministry, at the behest of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service,” the regional court said on its website.

Had these data been passed to Ukrainian secret services, these could have used them against Russia’s security, the court said.

On the same day the accused was apprehended by Russian federal security officers while trying to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border.

At the courtroom, he pleaded guilty to the charges of high treason and collaborating with secret services of a foreign state.

The court sentenced Shut to 12 years at a high-security prison.

The spy was found in possession of “espionage devices that Ukrainian secret services had provided him beforehand, as well as the material which he used when reporting execution of an intelligence assignment,” the regional office of the Federal Security Service told Interfax.

“Shur pleaded guilty and was remorseful for his deeds,” the agency said.