Ukrainian court sentences vice admiral Yeliseyev, who defected to Russia, to 15 years in prison

The Prymorsky District Court of Odessa on June 8 sentenced former first deputy commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Vice Admiral Sergei Yeliseyev, to 15 years in prison and stripped him of his military rank for high treason.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, in February and March 2014 Yeliseyev was effectively serving as acting commander of the Ukrainian fleet. During that period he refused to carry out orders from the country’s top leadership and defected to the side of the occupiers, breaking his oath. He thus became one of the first senior Ukrainian military officers to defect to Russia during the annexation of Crimea.

As early as July 2014, the Russian command appointed Yeliseyev deputy commander of Russia’s Baltic Fleet. He retained that post even after sweeping personnel purges in the fleet’s command in 2016 and holds it to this day.

The court found Yeliseyev guilty on several counts: high treason, desertion, encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, participation in a terrorist organization, and waging a war of aggression. Military prosecutors proved that his actions contributed to undermining the country’s defense capability, the seizure of Ukrainian warships, and the establishment of Russian forces’ control over the Crimean Peninsula. The verdict was handed down 12 years after the events in question.

In 2020, Yeliseyev drew additional attention when he appeared at a Russian military parade in Kaliningrad wearing Ukrainian military decorations that he had modified to resemble their Russian equivalents.