A Murmansk regional court on 19 May sentenced Vladimir Grabovetsky, a resident of Severomorsk, to 14 years in a penal colony for state treason, and Ukrainian citizen Polina Kuzmina, who resided in Moscow, to 12 years for aiding and abetting treason—both over funding Ukraine's Armed Forces. The verdicts were reported by Russian outlets citing the FSB directorate of the Northern Fleet.
The case fits a Russian pattern that hit a documented high in 2025: 468 sentences under treason, espionage, and confidential-cooperation statutes, with zero acquittals. What makes this prosecution distinctive is that Grabovetsky lived in Severomorsk—the main base of Russia's Northern Fleet—and the FSB directorate that handled the investigation was the Fleet's own. Russia is now prosecuting wartime dissent inside its naval garrison cities.
The scheme, according to prosecutors
According to the prosecution, Grabovetsky opposed the full-scale war against Ukraine and "developed a plan" to assist the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Security Service of Ukraine. To carry out the transfers, he recruited Kuzmina, who could route money to Ukraine through her relatives there.
Between December 2022 and May 2024, the two carried out 78 transfers. The funds, prosecutors allege, were used to purchase hardware, specialized equipment, and weapons—including drones and vehicles. Both defendants were also fined: 450,000 rubles for Grabovetsky, 400,000 for Kuzmina.
Other recent cases
The pattern reaches across Russia. Days before the Murmansk verdict, a Leningrad Oblast resident received 12 years for transferring $150 to Ukraine, according to a separate Current Time report. The Murmansk and Leningrad sentences are similar; the transfer amounts differ by orders of magnitude. The 468 sentencing figure was documented by the human rights project Pervyi Otdel (First Department), which tracks Russian treason and political prosecutions.
