HOMEL, Belarus -- A court in southeastern Belarus has sentenced an IT specialist to three years in prison for taking pictures of Russian troops heading to Ukraine and sharing them with the Belaruski Hayun Telegram channel.
The Homel regional court sentenced Viktar Kulinka on September 5 after finding him guilty of being "an accomplice to extremist activities."
The 31-year-old Kulinka was arrested in late March over pictures of Russian military troops moving through the Homel region toward Ukraine, weeks after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.
After the arrest, Kulinka was shown on state television channels "repenting for his activities."
A day before Kulinka's sentencing, the Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center said that a court in the town of Barysau, near the capital, Minsk, had sentenced a former officer of the Committee of State Security (KNB) Illya Trubin to 16 years in prison for setting two toll machines on fire in December.
SEE ALSO: Ukrainian Player Refuses Handshake After Defeat To Belarus's Azarenka At U.S. OpenThe 35-year-old father of two was found guilty of conducting two acts of terrorism, illegal activities with using firearms, ammunition, and explosives, as wells illegal activities with using flammable substances.
After Russia launched its ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, many cases of activities to damage railways and other communication lines have been reported in Belarus to disrupt Russian arms and troops supply to war-torn Ukraine.
Belarus is not a direct participant in the war in Ukraine, but it has provided logistical support to Moscow for the invasion by allowing Russian forces to enter Ukraine via Belarus territory. Russian troops have also shelled some Ukrainian towns and cities from Belarusian territory.
On September 3, Belarusian journalist Darya Chultsova was released from prison after serving two years on a charge of "organizing public events aimed at disrupting civil order," which she rejected as politically motivated.
SEE ALSO: Belarusian Prosecutor Seeks Lengthy Prison Terms For U.S. Citizen, Co-DefendantsChultsova and her colleague Katsyaryna Andreyeva were arrested in 2020 for covering protests against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka and sentenced to two years in prison each in February last year.
In July this year, Andreyeva was additionally sentenced to eight years in prison on a high treason charge that she and her supporters also call politically motivated.
Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, was declared the victor of an August 2020 presidential election, but opposition and public outrage over what they saw as a rigged vote has sparked protests since, bringing tens of thousands onto the streets with demands he step down and new elections be held.
Security officials in Belarus have cracked down hard on any dissent against Lukashenka's rule, arresting thousands, including dozens of journalists who covered the rallies, and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country.
Several protesters have been killed, and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture by security officials against some of those detained.
Lukashenka, who runs the country with a tight grip, has denied any wrongdoing with regard to the election and refuses to negotiate with the opposition.
The European Union, the United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka, 68, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the "falsification" of the 2020 vote and the brutal postelection crackdown.