A 20-year-old student in Russia who agreed to post leaflets on behalf of a pro-Ukraine partisan group has been handed 13 years jail for treason, Russian media reported on Thursday.

Vladimir Belkovich, a resident of Siberia’s Irkutsk region, was allegedly recruited by the Freedom of Russia Legion, a militant group responsible for attacks within Russian territory, the Mediazona news outlet quoted security services as saying.

According to the outlet, Belkovich asked his friend to help him post the leaflets.

‘In addition to state treason, he was also charged with inciting a person to engage in terrorism and attempted participation in a terrorist organisation,’ it said.

The Second Eastern District Military Court, which reportedly sentenced him, did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Separately, two men suspected of preparing an attack on railway infrastructure in the western Nizhny Novgorod region have been detained and charged with sabotage, the TASS news agency reported, citing local security forces.

Russia has reported almost 200 acts of sabotage on its rail network since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago, blaming most of them on Kyiv and its supporters.

Ukraine denies responsibility for carrying out sabotage or supporting partisan groups inside Russia, pointing to internal strife with President Vladimir Putin’s rule.