A court in Russian-annexed Crimea has upheld a 12-year prison sentence for an elderly Ukrainian citizen convicted of espionage, the RBC news website reported Friday.
Konstantin Shiring was found guilty and sentenced in October 2021 after a closed-door hearing.
Crimea’s Supreme Court said Shiring’s verdict has “entered into legal force” Friday after his appeal was rejected, according to a Federal Security Service (FSB) statement cited by RBC.
The court identified Shiring, born in 1960, as an agent of Ukraine’s military intelligence service who was detained in March 2020.
Shiring was also accused of recruiting a Russian servicewoman “for the purpose of her further involvement in obtaining information of interest to Ukrainian military intelligence.”
Described by the Kommersant business daily as Shiring’s romantic partner since his arrival in Crimea in 2015, the servicewoman was sentenced to eight years in July 2021.
Shiring reportedly denied his guilt and accused the servicewoman of slander.
Russia has stepped up its treason convictions since ties with the West deteriorated following its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
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