Ukrainian Official Abducted by Russian Forces in 2022 Sentenced to 12 Years for “Espionage”

Russian occupying forces have sentenced 35-year-old Ukrainian citizen Ihor Protokovylo to 12 years in a high-security penal colony on charges of "espionage" under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code, on occupied Ukrainian territory, on November 25.

In April 2022, Protokovylo allegedly transmitted information via a messaging app from his mobile phone to an employee of Ukraine’s Security Service. The shared data reportedly concerned "the locations of Russian military units" and "could have been used against Russian military personnel and others," according to the prosecution.

In May 2022, the Kakhovka City Territorial Community reported that Russian forces had abducted Ihor Protokovylo.

"On April 19, Russian military forces took Ihor Anatoliyovych Protokovylo, a resident of Nova Kakhovka, member of the Nova Kakhovka City Council, and head of a dacha settlement, from his home. As of now, Ihor Protokovylo’s whereabouts remain unknown," the statement said.

The investigation of this case was carried out by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) office based in the annexed regions of Crimea and Sevastopol, according to the prosecutor's office in the occupied Kherson region.

Previously, it was reported that many Ukrainian journalists in occupied territories face persecution, are hunted, abducted, and detained by Russian forces.