Student Gets 5 Years In Russia Jail For Allegedly Planning Attacks On Army

Russia has handed a five-year sentence to a 20-year-old student in the centre of the country for allegedly working with Ukrainian special services and planning sabotage attacks on military bases, local authorities announced Monday.

Since launching full-scale hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has arrested a slew of foreigners and Russian citizens for allegedly working with Kyiv or planning attacks on army infrastructure.

The branch of the FSB security services in the central Russian city of Kurgan said the man had earlier been detained on suspicion of working with a foreign state.

"The defendant planned to commit sabotage at military and social infrastructure facilities," the statement distributed to Russian news agencies said, announcing the five-year sentence.

The FSB also claimed the student, whom it did not identify, had planned to distribute pro-Ukrainian propaganda online and hand over details of troop and law enforcement activity in the region.

Russia criminalised criticism of its military after launching large-scale hostilities in Ukraine and has detained or fined thousands for speaking out against the fighting.

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