Teenager jailed in Russia for allegedly sending money to Ukrainian military

A Russian court on July 2 sentenced a 19-year-old man to 12 years in prison for “treason” after he was accused of giving money to the Ukrainian military.

“The Rostov Regional Court found the man guilty and sentenced him to 12 years in a strict penal colony,” Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said in comments reported by Kremlin state media.

He said the teenager sent money to help the Ukrainian military buy food and drones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's crackdown on dissent since the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to the arrest of thousands of its citizens and the imprisonment of many more.

In 2023, at least 21,000 people were targeted by Russian “repressive laws” used to “crack down on anti-war activists.” according to to Amnesty International.

Last month, a Russian court sentenced in absentia five citizens of the United Kingdom, Sweden and Croatia to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 23 years on June 26 for fighting on Ukraine's side in Russia's full-scale war, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said.

The court accused British Citizen John Harding, Swedish Russian citizen Mathias Gustafsson and Croatian citizen Vjekoslav Prebeg were accused of undergoing training for the so-called “violent seizure of power”, of attempting to change the constitutional order in Russia and of participating in the war as “mercenaries”.

Each of the three was sentenced in absentia to 23 years in prison, five of which are to be served in prison and the rest in a strict regime colony, as stated in the official announcement.

Two other British citizens, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy, were convicted of participating in the war as a “mercenary” and “complicity in the recruitment of mercenaries”. Hill was sentenced to four years in prison, while Healy was sentenced to three years and six months in prison, both to be served in a general regime penal colony.