Russia sentences Ukrainian citizen for ‘espionage’
A court in Russia’s St. Petersburg has sentenced Ukrainian citizen Oleksiy Yefymenko to seven years in prison for alleged "espionage," the press service of St. Petersburg city courts announced on Aug. 6.
Yefymenko's case was heard behind closed doors, so the details remain unknown, reports Russian independent outlet Mediazona. According to a press release from the judicial press service, Yefymenko reportedly pled guilty to the charges and expressed remorse. The case was submitted to the court on June 13, with a preliminary hearing on July 1. The trial concluded after three sessions.
Publicly available information indicates that a man named Oleksiy Yefymenko is considered missing in Ukraine. He disappeared on June 21, 2023, in the village of Mykhailivka, Zaporizhzhya Oblast, which was under Russian occupation.
According to the Ukrainian human rights center Zmina, Yefymenko worked as an electrical engineer and lived in Mykhailivka with his grandparents. In the summer of 2023, Russian troops detained him and transferred him to occupied Melitopol, where he was held in custody.
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