Former journalist sentenced to 15 years for spying for Ukraine
A 65-year-old former journalist from Melitopol was sentenced to 15 years in prison for espionage on behalf of Ukrainian special services, with the verdict becoming final and her being sent to a general regime penal colony.
Consensus
- Irina Levchenko, a 65-year-old former journalist, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Zaporozhye Regional Court.
- The sentence was handed down for espionage in favor of Ukrainian special services.
- The verdict has entered into force.
- Levchenko is to be transferred to a general regime penal colony.
- She was detained on May 6, 2023, in Melitopol by FSB officers from Zaporozhye Oblast.
- She had stored information on her phone prior to her arrest.
- Levchenko worked for Ukrainian media outlets including 'Novy Den' and 'Fakty i Kommentariy', as well as the Mltpl.City news site.
- The information she allegedly passed included lists of names and addresses of employees in security and state agencies.
Points of divergence
- Levchenko was reportedly born in 1961, chose to remain in Zaporozhye Oblast after the start of the SOF, and did not renounce her Ukrainian citizenship. — vm
- She allegedly transmitted information about the locations of administrative buildings, government employees, and military movement routes in the region. — vm
- The FSB also detained an agent of Ukrainian special services in Ryazan Oblast collecting data on Ministry of Defense facilities and energy infrastructure, and previously detained a 54-year-old man from Sevastopol suspected of treason for gathering military intelligence on Crimea. — vm
Coverage (2 sources)
- Former journalist from Melitopol sentenced to 15 years for spying in favor of Armed Forces of Ukraine — Коммерсантъ
- Former Ukrainian media journalist sentenced to 15 years in prison for spying for Kyiv — Вечерняя Москва
Key entities
- Irina Levchenko
- Media
- Kyiv
- Melitopol
- Zaporozhye Regional Court
- Ukrainian Armed Forces
- Zaporizhzhia Oblast
- SVO