ROSTOV-ON-DON, April 4. /TASS/. The Rostov Regional Court on Tuesday found Russian national Yevgeny Nikiforov guilty of high treason sentenced him to 6.5 years in a maximum security penitentiary for trying to cross the border and participate in hostilities on the side of Ukraine’s armed forces, a TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.
"The court found Nikiforov guilty of committing a crime described in part 1 of article 30 and article 275 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to an imprisonment of 6 years and 6 months to be served in a maximum security penal colony and subsequent restriction of freedom for 1 year and 6 months," the judge said.
Nikiforov said he would not appeal the sentence.
Earlier, the federal security service FSB's department in the Rostov Region said that when Nikiforov was detained operatives confiscated his signed questionnaire and application for a contract with the Ukrainian army and cell phones he had used to communicate with contacts in Ukraine.
Criminal proceedings were initiated under article 275 of the Criminal Code (High Treason) and article 276 of the Criminal Code (Espionage).