Russia on Friday issued harsh sentences of up to 22 years to a string of people convicted of treason and “terrorism” charges linked to Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
Since launching what it calls a “special military operation” in 2022, Russia has opened dozens of such cases against those it says are collaborating with Ukraine or trying to undermine the Russian army.
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On Friday, a military court in Moscow jailed two men for allegedly plotting to blow up fuel tanks at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on orders from Ukraine’s secret services.
The men, Mikhail Dariy and Ilya Kovylkov, were sentenced to 22 years and 15 years respectively on “terrorism” and other charges.
Dariy said that he did not go through with the planned attack because he wanted to minimize civilian casualties, the independent SOTAvision media outlet reported.
Prosecutors said Ukrainian intelligence officers offered the men $2,000 to carry out the attack using a drone, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
They were also accused of being in touch with the Freedom of Russia Legion, a unit of pro-Kyiv fighters that includes Russian citizens and has made armed border incursions into Russian territory throughout the conflict.
Two other men were convicted in separate cases of trying to join the Freedom of Russia Legion.
A military court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don sentenced 23-year-old Ivan Kovtunovsky to 11 years for plotting to commit treason and join a “terrorist organization.”
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Law enforcement officers said they foiled his attempt to join the militia.
And in Moscow, a military court sentenced another man, Vyacheslav Lutor, 34, to 10 years for attempting to join the same unit, the Interfax news agency reported citing Russia’s FSB security service.
It said Lutor was detained after buying an air ticket to Turkey in an attempt to travel to Ukraine and had taken photos of an “industrial facility” in Saint Petersburg that could have been a target “for future Ukrainian drone attacks.”
Those convictions come a day after a court in the Oryol region sentenced a transgender rights activist to 12 years for treason.
Citing the FSB, RIA Novosti said the accused, a transgender man, allegedly provided financial support to the Ukrainian armed forces and worked for the independent OVD-Info rights monitoring group.
Local media reported that they will be imprisoned in a women’s penal colony.
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