Court in Russia’s Bryansk region sentences Russian man who allegedly planned to fight for Ukraine to seven years behind bars

The Bryansk Regional Court has sentenced Russian citizen Ilya Kutsev to seven years in a strict regime colony over charges of attempting to participate in an armed group on the territory of a foreign country with an objective that goes against the interests of the Russian Federation, the regional courts press service reports.

Kutsev was also sentenced to restriction of freedom for 1.5 years. He pleaded not guilty. 

“After finding out about the beginning of the Special Military Operation, an unemployed resident of Bryansk, born in 1993, decided to depart for Ukraine to take part in combat against Russia’s Armed Forces as part of Ukraine’s Freedom of Russia Legion,” the press service’s message reads.

Allegedly, this is why Kutsev went to Minsk together with his brother who did not know about the purpose of the trip. While their documents were being checked in the Bryansk region town of Zlynka, it turned out that the brother cannot leave Russia due to late alimony payments. Eventually, according to the court documents, Kutsev decided to reach the point of his destination by himself, but he was detained by law enforcement agents.

On 9 January, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported to have detained and arrested a Russian citizen suspected of high treason in the Bryansk region.

“Over the course of 2022, this individual has on several occasions attempted to reach Ukraine through Republic Belarus to take part in combat on the side of Ukrainian armed groups against Russia’s Armed Forces,” the FSB’s statement reads.