The Romanian citizen David-Adrian Cherciu was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Russia. The man was detained by the FSB and accused of transmitting information to Ukrainian spies about the location of anti-aircraft defense systems in Sochi, southern Russia, in August 2024.
Dressed in a tracksuit, Cherciu appeared before a court in the Russian region of Krasnodar to hear his verdict. The man was placed in a glass cell, located in the courtroom.
The FSB has released video sequences of Cherciu’s arrest in a public space, showing how he was taken down, reports news.ro. Russian authorities claim that he admitted his guilt during the trial. The prosecution’s version is that the Romanian was promised assistance to leave the Russian Federation and join a military formation subordinate to Kiev.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest has conveyed that it is paying attention to the case from December 2024, however, the Romanian diplomats could not obtain permission from the Russian authorities to visit the citizen in prison, to provide consular assistance, or to allow him to correspond with his family.