Russia sentences a Ukrainian journalist to 12 years in prison for alleged espionage

On June 4, the Moscow City Court sentenced the Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko to 12 years in prison on espionage charges. Prosecutors wanted him locked up for 14 years, though Sushchenko says he’s been framed. The journalist’s attorney, Mark Feygin, vowed to appeal the ruling, also telling reporters that his client could be swapped for RIA Novosti Ukraine chief editor Kirill Vyshinsky, who was arrested last month in Kiev on treason charges.

Russian federal agents arrested Roman Sushchenko in Moscow in the fall of 2016. According to the FSB, Sushchenko was working for Ukrainian military intelligence, collecting classified information about Russia’s military and National Guard. Both Sushchenko and Kiev deny these allegations.

• In recent years, Russian officials have opened multiple cases against individuals allegedly spying for the Ukrainian government. For example, in October 2015, a Russian court sentenced Yuriy Soloshenko, the former director of a Ukrainian defense factory, to six years in prison for espionage. In June 2016, Soloshenko was pardoned with another imprisoned Ukrainian man, Hennadiy Afanasyev, and exchanged for suspects accused of fomenting separatism in the Odessa region.