British military instructor who started working for Russia in Ukraine is sentenced to 8 years in prison

Ross David Cutmore, a UK national who was detained in Ukraine in October 2025, has been sentenced to eight and a half years' imprisonment for disseminating information about the deployment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and cooperating with Russia.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); Office of the Prosecutor General

Quote: "The foreign national has professional expertise in firearms and tactical training. At the beginning of 2024, he arrived in this country to train mobilised personnel. However, he soon quit this job and began looking for easy money in pro-Kremlin online communities. There, he was contacted by an FSB officer who offered quick earnings in exchange for cooperation.

After being recruited, the agent began passing information to the Russians about foreign instructors of the [Ukrainian] defence forces with whom he had previously interacted. He also prepared an 'intelligence report' containing the coordinates of Armed Forces of Ukraine training centres in the south of Ukraine where he had earlier trained mobilised personnel."

Details: Ukrainska Pravda sources confirmed that the person convicted is Cutmore. The verdict was delivered on 30 April 2026 by the Kyiv District Court of Odesa.

The SSU also reported that Cutmore received instructions from the FSB to prepare a series of terrorist attacks. SSU counterintelligence officers detained him at the planning stage.

Quote: "Based on the evidence collected by the Security Service, the offender was found guilty under Article 114-2.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (unauthorised dissemination of information about the deployment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or other military formations established in accordance with Ukrainian law, committed under martial law).

Taking his cooperation with the investigation into account, the court sentenced him to eight and a half years' imprisonment."

Background: Cutmore's detention became public knowledge in December 2025.

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