A court in Volgograd, a city in southern Russia, has sentenced a university student to 12 years in a high-security penal colony after he made a minor financial transfer to Ukraine, as reported by the exiled news outlet Mediazona on Tuesday.
Andrei Glukhov, a 21-year-old student at Volgograd Polytechnic College who lives with cerebral palsy, was found guilty of treason on May 29 after a month-long trial, according to the court’s press service cited by Mediazona.
Eduard Glukhov, Andrei’s father, informed Mediazona that his son had expressed his disapproval of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Following the outbreak of the conflict, Andrei connected online with someone who claimed to be a Ukrainian national and was gathering support for peace talks.
After receiving a Ukrainian bank account number from this individual, Andrei purportedly transferred two small amounts of 1,500 rubles each (approximately $17 at that time), as stated by his father.
In September 2024, law enforcement agents searched the apartment shared by Glukhov and his mother, confiscating his computer equipment. Although he was initially released after being interrogated by the Federal Security Service (FSB), he was re-arrested and charged a month later.
Eventually, Eduard Glukhov received a call from his ex-wife informing him, “That’s it, Andrei has been placed in solitary confinement,” he recounted to Mediazona.
According to his father, Andrei Glukhov accepted his guilt and cooperated with investigators.
Due to his disability, Glukhov has limited mobility in his right hand and leg.
Since the onset of the war, Russia has imposed severe prison sentences on several individuals for making small financial transfers to Ukraine.
In the summer of 2024, a military court sentenced Moscow resident Nikolai Kolin to 14 years in prison for donating 10,000 rubles (around $110) to the Russian Volunteer Corps, a paramilitary group allied with Ukraine.
That same summer, Ksenia Karelina, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, received a 12-year prison sentence after allegedly donating approximately $50 to a pro-Ukrainian charity. She was released in April as part of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia.
