MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2021) A Russian appeals court has left without changes the 12-year prison sentence imposed on Ukrainian ex-footballer Vasyl Vasylenko for espionage, court spokeswoman Lyubov Budanova told Sputnik on Monday.
"The initial ruling remains as is, the appeal was declined," she said.
In October 2019, Vasylenko was detained in Moscow when he attempted to purchase decommissioned Soviet military equipment on behalf of a Ukrainian company closely linked to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Sources told Sputnik that it was large-sized equipment with no firepower developed in the USSR in the 1960s.
Initially, the charges included attempted smuggling of dangerous substances, weapons or cultural property. Later, they were upgraded to espionage, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
In December, Moscow city court sentenced Vasylenko to 12 years in Russia's strict regime colony after a series of closed-door hearings due to high sensitivity of information contained in the criminal case. The prosecution reportedly demanded 16 years in prison.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) did not disclose the details of the charges at the time.
On Monday, the FSB confirmed that convicted ex-footballer tried to transfer to Ukraine a batch of components for the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.
"Vasylenko was purposefully gathering secret military information on the Russian Armed Forces. Handing over such information to foreign parties could put national security at risk ... At the end of 2019, Vasylenko was detained by FSB operatives while receiving a batch of components for the S-300 air defense system in the interests of the state conglomerate Ukroboronprom," the FSB stated.
The FSB noted that they managed to obtain "exhaustive evidence of a foreign citizen's engagement in espionage" in the course of the investigation.
Vasylenko has denied all charges.
