Russian state media claims Ukrainian spy sentenced to 12 year in prison

ANKARA (AA) - A Ukrainian national in Russia has been found guilty of espionage and sentenced to 12 years in prison, Russian state news agency TASS claimed on Wednesday.

Citing a source in the Western district military court, TASS reported that Oleksandr Tsilyk was captured in 2021 while building caches of weapons and transporting arms to Russia in order to organize sabotage missions inside the country.

Besides his jail term, Tsilyk was also fined 500,000 Russian rubles (about $55,100), the report said, adding that he would spend the first three years of this sentence in prison and the rest in a high-security colony.

He pleaded partially guilty and actively contributed to the disclosure and investigation of crimes, the source said, according to TASS.

According to the Russian Federal Security Service, Oleksandr Tsilyk is from Ukraine's capital Kyiv and acted on the orders of a member of Ukraine's military intelligence.

Tsilyk was caught after illegally crossing the Russian border carrying explosive devices and components to make them, the FSB said.