Yaroslavl man sentenced to 14 years for allegedly sending photos of soldiers’ graves to Ukrainian intelligence — Russia’s first known treason conviction of its kind
The Yaroslavl Regional Court sentenced Nikolai Shcherbakov, 48, to 14 years in a maximum-security penal colony for treason over photographs he took of soldiers’ graves.
On August 1st, Nikolai Shcherbakov, a 48-year-old man from Yaroslavl, was sentenced to 14 years in a maximum-security penal colony by the Yaroslavl Regional Court. The charge? Treason, stemming from photographs he allegedly covertly took of soldiers' graves between October 2024 and the present.
According to the court's press service, Shcherbakov visited a memorial cemetery regularly, taking covert photos and filming of the graves of military personnel. He then allegedly sent these materials to representatives of Ukrainian security services. Independent Russian news outlet 7×7 reports this to be the first known treason conviction for photographing soldiers' graves.
The story first emerged in early August, with Dmitry Treshchanin, an editor at the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona, noting an increase in Russian authorities detaining people who photographed graves. Subsequently, police officers in several regions forced residents to apologize on camera.
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