Two Ukrainians convicted of spreading Russian propaganda

On December 17, the Kherson City Court found Viktor Havrylyuk and Maksym Lepsky guilty of spreading Russian propaganda. They were deprived of their liberty with release from serving their sentence on probation.

The Center for Investigative Journalism reports this with reference to the court verdicts against Havrylyuk and Lepsky.

The court found that pensioner Viktor Havrylyuk spread Russian propaganda through his page on the Russian social network «Odnoklassniki», which had five subscribers. He was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – this crime was committed repeatedly. He received 5 years in prison, without confiscation of property, with release from serving the sentence with a probationary period of three years.

Maksim Lepskyi distributed the Russian propaganda publication «Naddnipryanska Pravda» in Kherson from July to September 2022. He was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He received 3 years of imprisonment without confiscation of property, with release from serving the sentence on probation with a probationary period of one year.

It is noted that the men pleaded guilty in court.

The court sentences have not yet entered into force.