Russia sentences Ukrainian from occupied Donetsk Oblast over pro-Russian Volunteer Corps posts

Russia has sentenced a resident of temporarily occupied Donetsk Oblast to five years and six months in prison over Telegram posts expressing support for the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), which fights as part of Ukraine's military intelligence. The ruling was issued by Judge Pavel Gubarev.

Source: social media posts by the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don

Details: The accused, Oleh T., lives in the village of Andriivka in the Dokuchaievsk hromada, which has been under occupation since 2014. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]

Russian law enforcement claimed that between 6 and 9 April 2025, the man posted comments in a public Telegram channel calling for "violent actions against Russia's civilian population."

The verdict also states that the Ukrainian "positively assessed the actions of the RVC regarding an attack on Kursk Oblast."

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found him guilty on three counts under Article 205.2.2 of the Russian Criminal Code ("public calls for terrorism").

The man was sentenced to serve five years and six months in a general-regime penal colony. The verdict has not yet entered into force and can be appealed.

Background:

• The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) is a unit of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine composed largely of ethnic Russians fighting on Ukraine's side.
• The unit, led by Denis Kapustin (WhiteRex), is known for raids in the Russian rear in Russia's Bryansk, Belgorod and partially Kursk Oblast (including the village of Kozinka). In Russia, the RVC has been designated a "terrorist organisation".

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