The Lugansk People’s Republic Supreme Court has sentenced an LPR resident to 19 years in prison for gathering and passing military intelligence to a foreign state, LPR state security bodies reported.   "Ukrainian armed formations used the data provided by this citizen to shell an LPR industrial facility causing significant damage to property and civilian population," the report said. “The LPR Supreme Court found him guilty of espionage (Russian Criminal Code Article 276) and sentenced him to 19 years in prison.”   The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014.  The peace talks that began soon thereafter failed to reach tangible results due to Kiev’s position to settle the conflict by force.   Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation to protect Donbass residents from Ukrainian aggression on February 24, 2022. Prior to that, LPR and DPR Heads Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin asked the Russian leader to provide military assistance.   The Lugansk People’s Republic acceded to Russia on September 30, 2022 following the unification referendum.*i*v