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Russia Sentences Ukrainian Man to 11 Years on Espionage Charges After Attempt to Evacuate Mother
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The St. Petersburg City Court has sentenced Kharkiv resident Ivan Zabavskyi to 11 years in a high-security penal colony on charges of espionage, according to the Unified Press Service of St. Petersburg Courts.
His case was registered in court in July 2024, and “was conducted behind closed doors due to its classification as ‘Top Secret.’” wrote the Unified Press Service of St. Petersburg Courts.
Russian court found Zabavskyi guilty of collecting and transmitting classified information on behalf of Ukraine’s Security Service.
A Mediazona correspondent was able to confirm in court that Ivan Zabavskyi is a 27-year-old Ukrainian citizen who was listed among the civilian prisoners captured by Russia.
Mediazona news agency reported that Zabavskyi lived in Kharkiv, while his mother, Maryna Zabavska, remained in the village of Tavilzhanka in the Kharkiv region after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zabavskyi’s mother recalled burying her older sister in Tavilzhanka, who was killed in a shelling attack, before deciding to leave for Kharkiv to reunite with her son. However, with no communication or internet in the occupied village, she had no way of informing him of her plans.
To escape, she had to travel through Russia. Upon arriving in Belgorod, she learned that Ivan had gone to Tavilzhanka in search of her, unaware that she had already left.
Ivan, unable to contact his mother but determined to find her, traveled to the village as a driver transporting humanitarian aid, as other vehicles were not allowed into the frontline zone.
Ivan disappeared in the fall of 2022, and the village fell under Russian occupation. When Maryna Zabavska later returned to Ukraine, neighbors told her they had seen Russian soldiers taking her son away.
It wasn’t until May 2023 that Russia’s Ministry of Defense responded to Zabavska, informing her that Ivan was being held in Russia and had been detained for “opposing the special military operation .”
Russia is unlawfully holding over 20,000 Ukrainian civilians, a figure that even exceeds the number of Ukrainian prisoners of war. This was announced during a PACE session by Maksym Butkevych, a human rights activist, journalist, and soldier, who himself endured two years of Russian captivity.