The St. Petersburg City Court sentenced 29-year-old Ukrainian Ivan Zabavsky to 11 years in a high-security colony, finding him guilty in a case of espionage, reports a correspondent of «Mediazona»* from the courtroom. The prosecutor requested 13 years in a colony for Zabavsky. The trial was held in a closed session, with listeners and the press only allowed in for the announcement of the verdict.
Zabavsky was arrested in September 2023 in the suburban village of Tavolzhanka, occupied by the Russian army, when he came to take his mother from there. After Marina Zabavska's sister died under shelling, she decided to move to her son. However, there was no connection, she could not get to the territory controlled by Ukraine, and decided to leave for Russia.
At this time, her son Ivan went to Tavolzhanka as a driver with a load of humanitarian aid (other vehicles were not allowed into the frontline zone), after which he disappeared. Only in May 2024 did the Russian Ministry of Defense respond to the woman that her son was in captivity and «detained for resisting the special military operation».
The court began considering Zabavsky's case in the summer of 2024, accusing him of «espionage».
As a source told «Mediazona», who received a note from Zabavsky, the Ukrainian described «long and terrible ten months in captivity, when a day seemed like a year, when they beat at least twice, sometimes three times a day». He also reported constant hunger, saying that prisoners were given portions no more than 100-150 grams.
According to the source, Zabavsky admitted guilt in helping the SBU and «committing the actions mentioned in the case materials», but did so to save his mother, who found herself in the combat zone.
* Recognized in Russia as «foreign agent».
Photo: Sotavision