Another “Ukrainian spy” was “convicted” in Luhansk. Journalists pointed out to fabricated charges

On 15 October, the “supreme court” of the Luhansk “republic” sentenced 44-year-old Denis Postnikov, allegedly a Ukrainian spy. Farvater.Skhid called the “sentence” unprecedented: none of the previous “punishments” for “Ukrainian spies” had included such a long prison term.

“The investigation has established that the accused, having been recruited by illegal armed Ukrainian groups, passed them information about infrastructure and housing facilities where civilians and servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces were located, as well as humanitarian aid, was distributed,” the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee reported.

Russian media previously claimed that in 2022, the Ukrainian armed forces hit the Ice Palace building in Siverskodonetsk with a HIMARS missile when the Russian military was distributing humanitarian aid there, killing civilians. The strike was allegedly coordinated by a resident, Denis Postnikov, who deliberately waited for the biggest crowd to come to the Ice Palace.

Farvater.Skhid stressed that the attack on the Ice Palace took place on 9 June 2022, when the battle for Siverskodonetsk was still ongoing, meaning that the Russian military could not distribute humanitarian aid there. The occupation administration opened its first humanitarian centre in the city only on 13 July 2022.

In addition, journalists noted that the American HIMARS were not yet in service with Ukraine at that time – they were only delivered on 23 June 2022, two weeks after the attack on the Ice Palace.

In open sources, Farvater.Skhid found little information about a 44-year-old resident of Siverskodonetsk Denys Postnikov. A certain Denis Viktorovich Postnikov, born 23.04.1980, is, in particular, in the Clarity Project database. There, with reference to the Main Department of the National Police in Luhansk Oblast, he has been listed as missing since 5 May 2022.