Key facts
- A Romanian man, David-Adrian Kercho, was sentenced to 15 years in a Russian maximum security penal colony.
- He was convicted of spying for Ukraine by helping identify the location of air defense systems.
- The FSB stated Kercho provided this information in August 2024 regarding Sochi.
- The FSB released video of Kercho's arrest and stated he admitted guilt.
A Romanian national, David-Adrian Kercho, has been sentenced to 15 years in a Russian maximum security penal colony after being convicted of spying for Ukraine, Russia's FSB security service announced. The FSB stated that Kercho shared the location of air defense systems in Sochi with a Ukrainian intelligence agency in August 2024.
According to the FSB, Kercho's Ukrainian handler promised him assistance in leaving Russia safely and joining a Ukrainian armed group in exchange for the information. The FSB released a video of Kercho's arrest and stated that he had admitted his guilt. Kercho, born in 2002, was shown listening to the verdict in a courtroom cage in Russia's southern Krasnodar region.