An Inspiring Life Sentence for a Ukrainian Traitor: Justice as Art
A masterful court verdict rationalizes why a Ukrainian traitor does not deserve to leave prison.
An Inspiring Life Sentence for a Ukrainian Traitor: Justice as Art
I enjoy following the fates of Ukrainian traitors, especially those who helped shell my city. As much as it’s relieving to know they can’t cause more harm, I’m delighted that many of them will rot in prison. Once in a while, I stumble upon truly inspiring court sentences.
This verdict of the Malynovskyi District Court of Odesa is a work of art that lived in my head rent-free for quite a while. The case was chaired by Judge Olexander Garsky, whom I respected back when I prosecuted criminals.
The criminal case was against a former Ukrainian policeman who worked for russian secret services for purely ideological reasons. The full version of the verdict can be found here.
The story of the collaboration
In March 2022, a month after the start of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the traitor (that’s going to be his nickname) established contact with representatives of the russian federation.
His objective was to tour the city of Odesa and the region, looking for locations of troops and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He placed photo traps and hidden cameras for russian forces to get real-time information. These information-collecting activities went on for about 9 months until he was apprehended.
What lies behind the traitor’s actions
The traitor spoke about his motives in depth. He does not consider Ukraine a legitimate state (referring to it as a “quasi-state”). He believed Belarusians, russians, and Ukrainians are “one people” artificially divided by the West.
His animosity is directed towards all Ukrainian government bodies, which he perceives as foreign-funded and influenced. He simultaneously “doesn’t harbor hatred towards Ukrainians” but hates the government elected by his countrymen.
Traitor’s worldview crystallized during the Euromaidan and the subsequent Revolution of Dignity in 2013–2014, in which he saw Ukraine as a “puppet state” of the Western financial circles. In his mind, only russia could be Ukraine’s true “friend.” That’s why he sought contact with russia’s special services as soon as russia launched the full-scale war.
Here comes another interesting part. At one point, the Ukrainian special services discovered one of the hidden cameras. The traitor understood that he was trailed. Did he stop his subversive activities, at least temporarily? No.
The traitor categorically stated that he was “not capable of such small-mindedness and cowardice,” as he understood that his “comrades-in-arms” (of the russian federation) were dying on the frontline every day.
During his final statement, the traitor expressed regret only about being exposed too early in his struggle against Ukraine.
He wished to continue his work for the benefit of the russian federation, considering Western countries aiding Ukraine against russia. In his mind, russia is a “force of good,” and his own country is a “force of evil.”
Court’s conclusions
Judges notice incredible confidence in the traitor’s actions and beliefs. He exchanged information with russia, fully aware that his actions would result in the deaths of Ukrainian people.
The court recognized the traitor’s intelligence, education, and skills — those helped him in his activities, like finding convenient places to install cameras and remain undetected. His speech was clear and precise, his tone and gesticulation calm.
His worldview and understanding of historical events are very similar to the three main slogans of the Party in George Orwell’s novel “1984”: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
The traitor’s worldview is limited to ideas of some “unity of fractured nations,” a common cultural and ideological world of the Ukrainian and russian peoples. At the same time, he dismissed the actual desires of other people and the future they wanted for Ukraine.
“He is a man of intelligence, but to act sensibly, intelligence is not enough.” — some writer, maybe Tosltoyevsky.
Despite having fine qualities necessary for any person, such as courage and persistence, these qualities were used for sheer evil. He was helping destroy Ukraine’s independent statehood and kill his countrymen.
It seems that the idea of migrating to russia did not occur to him since 2014. Why didn’t he just leave Ukraine — a country he despised so? We can only speculate.
The judgement
The court considers the societal danger of the traitor to be too high, as he is an ideological enemy of Ukraine.
“Switching to the enemy’s side under martial law indicates the maximum level of danger of this person and the possibility of implementing the most threatening scenarios of subversive activity in any sphere of Ukraine’s life.”
“He lacks remorse in his actions and says he intends to continue supporting the russian federation.”
Considering the traitor’s characteristics, the court concluded that he was willing to fight against the Ukrainian nation and state to the very end.
It gets worse when you think about it. This creature was born, raised, and educated in independent Ukraine. Despite not living in russia (or ussr) and thus carrying the burden of nostalgic delusions, he still adopted the enemy’s ideology.
Such ideology shows the impossibility of his re-education with love for Ukraine (or just not wanting the country erased). No legal system of punishment is capable of re-educating him. Ukraine isn’t China with its deprogramming (brainwashing) camps. Yet.
Another amusing fact. The traitor’s views were so ghoulish that he got more than the prosecutor proposed. The accusing side suggested a 15-year prison sentence, which was deemed insufficient by the court.
It is more reminiscent of Shakespeare’s expression in “Hamlet”: “…To offer it the show of violence; For it is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious mockery.”
Life imprisonment is thy fate, a slave to russian imperialism
The traitor got jailed for the rest of his wretched life. You might say this is an inspiring sentence about a life imprisonment sentence.
[laughing track]
In the future, this traitor may be released. The Ukrainian law allows for it. That seems unlikely, given his ideological degeneracy.
He may be exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners of war. That seems equally unlikely to me because russia doesn’t like Ukrainian traitors. It actually considers them to be a waste of resources and unreliable. “Once a whore, always a whore.”
I’ve long admired my nation’s gallantry in dealing with human scum in a civilized manner. But, writing this piece under two air raid alerts due to rockets fired by russia with the coordination from other traitors got me thinking. I promise you will see where this led me in due time.
Kashadoo (Organic Ukrainist/Punished Ukrainian), or Georgii, is a seasoned technical copywriter and ex-prosecutor from Ukraine. When not working, he usually writes nonsense on Twitter or plays indie games. His soul wants to speak about the important stuff — the russo-Ukrainian war, Western perceptions of Ukraine and russia, and the importance of the movie “Tetsuo” for our civilization.
