The Verkhovyna District Court sentenced senior soldier of the State Border Service Maryan S. for illegally transporting three men across the state border of Ukraine. He was sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment for the crime.
According to the case materials, the incident occurred in the fall of 2024. Maryan S., who had previously voluntarily mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine but left the service due to his mother's illness, agreed to help three men - a resident of the Carpathian region and two residents of Bila Tserkva - illegally cross the border with Romania.
To organize the crossing, he drew a detailed route through the Carpathian mountain ranges and created a group on the Telegram messenger called "Hike", where he added the participants of the crossing. They reached the village of Tatariv, after which they set off into the mountains. Three days later, the men were detained by border guards.
During the court hearing, Marian S. admitted his guilt and explained that he did not receive any money for the crossing, and that the offer to help was made to him by an acquaintance from Poland. He himself did not plan to cross the border at that time, but was only studying the route for a possible escape. However, a month later, the border guard was detained again while attempting to illegally cross the border into Romania. After that, he returned to service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Judge Andriy Buchinsky, having considered all the evidence, found Marian S. guilty of illegal smuggling of persons across the border under articles of the Criminal Code. Although the maximum sentence was 5 years in prison, the court decided to replace the actual term with 2 years of suspended sentence with a probationary period. The verdict can be appealed.
