Scottish man sentenced to 8 years 6 months in Ukraine for spying for Russia

A Scottish man from Dunfermline in Fife has been sentenced to eight years and six months in prison in Ukraine after pleading guilty to spying for Russia while working as a military instructor.

Ross David Cutmore received the term at the Kyiv District Court in Odesa on April 30, 2026, following a plea deal. The sentence, backdated to his arrest on October 27, 2025, also requires him to pay approximately 830 hryvnias in procedural costs. Ukrainian authorities convicted him under charges including the unauthorized disclosure of information on Ukrainian Armed Forces locations for profit and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Cutmore arrived in Ukraine on January 23, 2024, entering through the Kraivets checkpoint. He initially conducted training for Ukrainian service personnel in the southern city of Mykolaiv. In late September 2024, he relocated to Odesa, where financial difficulties led him to pro-Kremlin online communities. There, a Russian Federal Security Service officer recruited him, offering payment for military intelligence.

An investigation by Ukraine's Security Service found that in May 2025, Cutmore transmitted coordinates of Ukrainian units and training...