Belarus sentences Ukrainian to 8 years for spying

MINSK: A Belarussian court has sentenced a Ukrainian radio correspondent to more than eight years in prison for spying, Ukraine’s ambassador in Minsk Ihor Kizim told Reuters on Wednesday.

Last November, Belarus’s KGB state security service said it had uncovered a spy ring working for Ukraine’s defence ministry set up by Minsk-based Ukrainian journalist Pavlo Sharoyko. Sharoyko, who has not been contactable by media or the Ukrainian embassy since his arrest last October, was recently convicted and sentenced by a closed court, Kizim said.

"The trial took place. He’s currently in a KGB detention centre," he said. "He has no complaints about the conditions." Sharoyko had reportedly pleaded guilty, but the embassy does not believe the reports, Kizim said. Neither the KGB nor the courts could be reached for comment.