DONETSK, May 7. /TASS/. A member of the terrorist battalion named after Noman Celebicihan, which is banned in Russia, Roman Klyukin, who was convicted by the Southern District Military Court on May 6, told TASS in an interview that Ukrainian troops left him behind in Velikaya Novoselka in the Donetsk People’s Republic during their retreat in 2025 and later tasked him with transmitting information on troop positions and the situation in the settlement.
"I was left in Velikaya Novoselka when our forces [the Ukrainian army] retreated. Later, a drone dropped a phone to me, which I used to stay in contact with the intelligence services. I was supposed to relay information about troop and artillery positions and describe what was happening in Novoselka," Klyukin said.
He explained that he had signed a contract with the battalion while in prison.
Klyukin, a native of Velikaya Novoselka, said the Ukrainian side decided to use him as a spy posing as a local resident. "They identified me during the screening process," he added.
He was detained by military counterintelligence officers of the Eastern Military District in early March 2025.
On May 6, 2026, the court sentenced Klyukin to 22 years in prison for espionage on behalf of Ukraine.