MOSCOW – The Russian prosecution has asked the court to sentence Ukrainian citizen Vasyl Vasylenko, charged with espionage, to 16 years in prison.
“The parties presented their arguments at the court hearings today. The prosecution asked that Vasylenko be sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penitentiary,” the Moscow City Court told Interfax on Nov. 26.
The court expects to hand down its ruling in the case at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 7.
Vasylenko, 53, has been indicted for espionage. He was detained in October 2019. Investigators then charged him with a crime qualified by the Russian Criminal Code as “the illegal transfer over the Russian state border of potent, poisonous, toxic, explosive, or radioactive substances, radiation sources, nuclear materials, firearms, their main components, explosive devices, munitions, weapons of mass destruction, their delivery means, other weapons, other military equipment, and also materials and equipment that can be used in the creation of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery means, other weapons, other military equipment, and also strategic commodities and resources or cultural artefacts in large amounts or especially valuable animals and aquatic biological resources belonging to species included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.” No details of the indictment were disclosed at the time.
After March 2020, according to the court materials, investigators filed another motion seeking to extend Vasylenko’s arrest, this time around charging him with espionage, which is punishable with ten to 20 years in prison.
The details of the case have not been disclosed as the case filings have been classified.
The criminal case is being investigated by the Federal Security Service’s Directorate for Moscow.
