The findings, current as of Aug. 8, cover cases opened since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The authors estimate the true number of defendants is higher: the names of roughly 30% of those charged remain unknown because of closed proceedings and the absence of personal data in court records. Charges could be established in the cases of 323 people.
More than half of those — 176 people, or 54.5% — face accusations of collecting and passing information to the Ukrainian side. Another 37 are accused of preparing or carrying out terrorist attacks and killings, 34 of providing financial aid to Ukraine, 15 of sabotage on transport and infrastructure, and 15 of serving in or attempting to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Russian courts have already convicted 402 people, or 72.4%. Verdicts were handed down in person to 398 defendants and in absentia to four. Sentences are known for 382 of the convicted: seven received life imprisonment, while the rest received terms ranging from five years to 27 years and nine months. The median sentence was 14 years, rising to 18 years in cases where treason or espionage charges were combined with terrorism or sabotage articles.
Most of the verdicts — 241, or 60.1% — were issued by courts in the occupied territories of Ukraine: in the so-called "DPR" and "LPR," the occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, and annexed Crimea. Among individual courts, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don handed down the most verdicts, 65.
Of the 555 defendants, 454, or 81.8%, were first detained on Ukrainian territory, another 100 within Russia's internationally recognized borders, and one in Kazakhstan. Nearly 90% of known disappearances (239 of 266) occurred in Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation. The last known locations of those detained were most often Melitopol, Nova Kakhovka, Kherson, Donetsk, Berdiansk, Enerhodar, Tokmak, Oleshky and Skadovsk.
By the time the research was completed, 534 defendants remained in custody. The place of detention could be established for 360 people: 236 are held in facilities on Russian territory and 124 in pretrial detention centers and penal colonies in the occupied territories. Another 174 remain in locations that are unknown. The authors note that Ukrainians are being transferred to Siberia, the Far East and the Far North.
Women make up 25.6% of the identified defendants. Of the 555, 533 are civilians; only 22 were serving or former military personnel. The median period between detention and sentencing was about 17 months.
Some 249 Ukrainians remain listed in Ukraine's register of missing persons. Another 17 were previously on the register but were later removed: seven were released in exchanges and one was officially declared dead. At least five defendants died during criminal prosecution or after sentencing. At least 11 were exchanged or released: seven after sentencing, two before it and two without charges being brought. Some 150 Ukrainians have been added to the Rosfinmonitoring list.
The authors stress that the real scale of the repression is certainly higher than the figures cited, because security services and courts conceal information and a person's fate often becomes known only after a verdict or an appeal.