MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. A Ukrainian national has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for engaging in espionage against Russian defense sector companies, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The Tula Regional Court’s verdict against Ukrainian citizen Andrey Petkevich has taken effect. He was found guilty of committing a crime punishable under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code (‘Espionage’). The court sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum-security penal colony," the statement reads.

FSB officers established that, "the foreign national, acting on instructions from Ukrainian intelligence agencies, sought to establish contacts with employees of Russian defense companies who have access to classified information." "His mission was to recruit the Russians and get them to pass on legally protected information about the development of advanced weapons in the field of small arms," the statement added.

"Petkevich’s espionage activities were promptly cut short," the FSB pointed out.

Media outlets in the Tula Region reported earlier that 42-year-old Andrey Petkevich from the Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk had been detained in August 2021.