"You shouldn't have joined NATO": a Mykolaiv resident was tried in the Korabelnyi district for pro-Russian comments

The Korabelnyi District Court of the city of Mykolaiv found Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych guilty of justifying and recognizing as lawful the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The basis for the criminal proceedings were two messages that the man left in comments in an open Telegram channel. The court sentenced him to 5 years of imprisonment, but released him from actually serving the sentence with probation for 2 years.

The verdict in the case No. 488/2615/26 was delivered by the Korabelnyi District Court on 24 June 2026. The criminal proceeding in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations is registered under No. 22026150000000034. Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych is a native of Mykolaiv, a citizen of Ukraine, previously not convicted.

According to the indictment, in the period from 8 February to 20 March 2025 the man, at his place of residence, used his personal Samsung Galaxy A02 mobile phone and a Telegram account. He posted messages in an open Telegram channel.

The case materials contain precisely two messages by Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych. Both were written not as separate publications but in reply to posts by channel users. The court noted that this open information resource is a mass media outlet.

The first message the man left at 17:09 in response to one of the Telegram channel posts. In it he linked Russia’s full-scale attack to language issues, street renaming, the removal of monuments, Maidan, and Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO.

“Why doesn’t Ukraine take into account the rights of Russian-speaking people? Why is the Russian language being banned? Why are streets being renamed? Why are monuments being torn down? Why is Russian history in Mykolaiv being destroyed? Then they ask why Russia attacked Ukraine? Everything is clear and obvious! There was no need to stage Maidans, to shout ‘Moskalyaku na gilyaku’ and the like, there was no need to divide people into right and wrong, into Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking — it was not necessary. There was no need to get into NATO. One should at least use one’s head a little and live in reality.”

The second comment was left at 20:08 under a publication about a “March of Remembrance…” in Odesa. In it Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych claimed that under such circumstances any state supposedly would have to start a war.

“Any country will start a war when people in masks walk near its borders with torches and shout ‘Moskalyaku na gilyaku’, ‘death to the enemies’ and the like. Any country after that is obliged to start a war — that is Nazism. And they overthrow the lawful authorities. And they breed hatred toward another people.”

According to the verdict, these messages contained justification, recognition as lawful, and denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began in 2014.

The actions of Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych were qualified under part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — production and dissemination of materials containing justification, recognition as lawful, or denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, using mass media.

In court Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych fully and unequivocally admitted his guilt, confirmed all the circumstances of the indictment and sincerely repented. Since the defendant did not dispute the established circumstances, at the prosecutor’s request the court, pursuant to part 3 of Article 349 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, found it unnecessary to examine evidence regarding circumstances that the parties did not contest.

When imposing the sentence, the court took into account that the man had no prior convictions, was characterized at his place of residence as having average conduct, admitted guilt and repented. Also, Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych voluntarily transferred 15,000 hryvnias to assist the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The court found no circumstances that would aggravate the punishment.

As a result, the court found Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych guilty and sentenced him to 5 years of imprisonment without confiscation of property.

At the same time, on the basis of Article 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, he was released from serving the imposed sentence with probation for 2 years. During this period he is obliged to periodically appear for registration with the probation authority and to notify about any change of residence or employment.

The Samsung Galaxy A02 phone used during the commission of the criminal offense was ordered confiscated in favor of the state. The other seized Samsung Galaxy A05 phone will be returned to its owner.

In addition, Nikulov Denys Volodymyrovych was ordered to pay 4,457 hryvnias in expenses for the forensic examination.

The verdict could be appealed to the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal through the Korabelnyi District Court of the city of Mykolaiv within 30 days from the date of its announcement.

Earlier we wrote:

• Praised Russia and called on it to seize southern Ukraine — the SBU detained a 25-year-old Mykolaiv resident
• A repeat offender who called on Russians to seize the South was convicted in Mykolaiv
• Justified the occupiers on Facebook: in the Mykolaiv region a woman who supported Russia’s war was detained
• Propaganda under the cover of TikTok: a Kremlin agitator was exposed in the Mykolaiv region
• An employee of the Mykolaiv pre-trial detention center prayed to Putin and called for strikes on his own detention facility