A court in the southern Russian city of Volgograd has sentenced a university student to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony after he made a small financial transfer to Ukraine, the exiled news outlet Mediazona reported Tuesday.
Andrei Glukhov, 21, a student at the Volgograd Polytechnic College with cerebral palsy, was convicted of treason on May 29 following a monthlong trial, Mediazona reported, citing the court's press service.
Glukhov’s father, Eduard Glukhov, told Mediazona that his son had voiced opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After the war started, he made contact online with an individual claiming to be a Ukrainian citizen who said they were collecting signatures in support of peace negotiations.
After the individual shared a Ukrainian bank account number with him, Glukhov allegedly transferred two small sums of 1,500 rubles each (about $17 at the time), his father said.
In September 2024, security agents searched the apartment Glukhov shared with his mother and seized computer equipment. While he was initially released after being questioned by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), he was detained again and charged a month later.
“And then my ex-wife calls me and says: ‘That’s it, Andrei has been locked up in solitary confinement’,” Eduard Glukhov told Mediazona.
Andrei Glukhov admitted guilt and cooperated with the investigation, his father said.
Due to his disability, Glukhov has limited use of his right hand and leg.
Russia has handed harsh prison sentences to several of its citizens for making small financial transfers to Ukraine since the start of the war.
In summer 2024, a military court sentenced Moscow resident Nikolai Kolin to 14 years in prison for donating 10,000 rubles (about $110) to the Russian Volunteer Corps, a paramilitary group fighting alongside Ukraine.
Also that summer, U.S.-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in prison after she allegedly donated around $50 to a pro-Ukraine charity. She was freed in April as part of a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap.
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