The Sevastopol City Court in annexed Crimea sentenced 55-year-old Vladimir Zosich to 17 years in a maximum-security penal colony and imposed a fine of 250,000 rubles. He was found guilty in a case involving attempted high treason and the illegal possession of explosives.
The sentence was reported by the Sevastopol prosecutor’s office. In its statement, the agency said that, according to the security services’ version, Zosich was recruited in February 2025 by an officer of the Security Service of Ukraine.
The prosecution claims that he then followed instructions to collect a mobile phone from a hidden cache in Sevastopol. Investigators say the device was intended for “covert correspondence.”
The prosecutor’s office also said Zosich was later tasked with “conducting visual reconnaissance of the location of a military facility”. No further details of the alleged assignment were given in the statement.
He was later detained by officers of the FSB. After the arrest, security officials said they seized a mobile phone and an improvised explosive device from his apartment.
The charges also included the illegal storage of explosives. The prosecutor’s statement did not include any separate comments from the defense or from Zosich himself.