In Russia, the former Ukrainian footballer was sentenced to 12 years in prison for “espionage”

The hearings in the Vasily Vasilenko case were held closed to the public due to the secrecy of the information contained in the criminal case.

In Moscow, a city court sentenced a former professional soccer player and citizen of Ukraine Vasily Vasilenko to 12 years in a strict regime colony on charges of espionage. RIA Novosti reported on this on Monday, December 7.

“The court found Vasilenko guilty of committing a crime under article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, sentenced him to 12 years in prison in a strict regime colony,” the agency source said.

The case hearings were held behind closed doors due to the secrecy of the information contained in the criminal case. The prosecutor asked the court to sentence Vasilenko to 16 years in a strict regime colony.

The FSB did not reveal the plot of the prosecution. According to the source, Vasilenko was arrested in Moscow when he allegedly tried to purchase dismantled military equipment in the Russian Federation on behalf of a Ukrainian company associated with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. The source pointed out that we are talking about a large equipment developed in the USSR in the 1960s, which has no firepower. The former footballer is not considered guilty.

We will remember, Vasily Vasilenko was arrested in October 2019. Initially, he was charged with attempted smuggling of dangerous substances, weapons or cultural property (part 1 of article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Details were not specified from the outset. Later, the arrest of the Ukrainian was extended already in the case of espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This article provides up to 20 years in prison.

It is known that Vasily Vasilenko played as a defense for Druzhba from Berdyansk, Melitopol Torpedo and Tavria from the village of Novotroitskoye. After the end of his sports career, he became a children’s coach.

Earlier in Crimea, the so-called “Sevastopol City Court” sentenced a local resident to 10 years of strict regime on espionage charges. At the same time, it is not specified in the interests of which state the “spy” acted.

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