The Moscow City Court sentenced participant of the war in Ukraine, Pavel Guguev, to four years in a general regime colony and one and a half years of freedom restriction for confidential cooperation with foreigners, reported «Mediazona»* citing the press service of the First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction of Moscow.
Guguev went to war in Ukraine from a colony where he had been serving 12 years since 2013 for murder, and was captured. There he gave an interview to Ukrainian journalists, which was published on Vladimir Zolkin's YouTube channel. In the video, Guguev spoke about the heavy losses among Russian soldiers.
After he returned to Russia as a result of an exchange, Guguev voluntarily gave an interview to a Ukrainian journalist, which was published in July 2023. He continued his account of the situation in the Russian army and also reported that he was offered to declare that he was «forced» to give an interview in Ukraine.
The day after the publication of this interview, all the prisoners who were in the unit with Guguev had their phones confiscated, and they were also forbidden from going for walks and receiving packages, one of the soldiers told the publication «Kholod»*. Guguev himself was placed for several days in a room that was previously used as an armory.
A few months later, at the end of 2023, he was detained and sent to a pre-trial detention center.
* Recognized in Russia as «foreign agents».