A court in Ukraine has sentenced a man referred to as “a private informant of Igor Strelkov [also known as Girkin]” to 10 years behind bars following an investigation by the country’s Security Service, the latter says on its website.
The man whose name remains undisclosed has been found guilty of illegal dissemination of information about Ukraine’s army. He was detained near the front line in the Donetsk region in May.
The investigators’ theory is that he was attempting to locate Ukrainian positions near Sloviansk in order to provide Igor Girkin (Strelkov), the former leader of the pro-Russian proxy forces in the region, with it.
Ukraine’s Security Service has also managed to prove that the man contacted Girkin after the war had started and sent him emails with locations of Ukraine’s positions on the map and detailed description of terrain.
Strelkov has yet to comment on the matter.
Ukraine’s intelligence declared a $100.000 ransom for capturing Girkin on 16 October. “It was revealed that one of the most popular Russian terrorists had decided to go to war against our country once again,” read the statement.
In November, a Dutch court found Girkin guilty of the 2104 MH17 plane crash that claimed the lives of 298 people. He was sentenced in absentia to a life term.