Judge Timur Zhidkov of the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced the defendants in the case of setting fire to a relay cabinet and a Ka-32 rescue helicopter to imprisonment for terms ranging from 12.5 to 18 years in a colony, reported a correspondent from «Mediazona»* from the courtroom. They all admitted guilt and insisted that they did it for mercenary reasons, without any political motives.
22-year-old Stanislav Khamidullin and 21-year-old Roman Yakovets were sentenced to 17.5 years in a high-security colony, Daniil Yamskov to 17 years in a high-security colony, Nikita Bulgakov to 18 years in a high-security colony, and Anastasia Mochalina to 12.5 years in a general regime colony. The prosecution requested a term from 13 to 19 years in a colony.
According to the investigation, the young people, in search of side jobs, received assignments from unknown individuals to first set fire to relay cabinets on the railway, and then to a search and rescue helicopter at the «Ostafyevo» airfield near Moscow. The first crime was classified as «sabotage», and the second as «terrorism». Mochalina was charged only under the second article.
In court, all the defendants admitted guilt. Stanislav Khamidullin said that he «was tempted by quick, easy, and illegal earnings». Roman Yakovets insisted that neither he nor the other defendants ever «spoke out against the current government and the SVO» and did not intend to harm Russia. Daniil Yamskov wrote a petition in the pre-trial detention center asking to be sent to war in Ukraine. All four not only admitted guilt but also requested to reclassify the charge to the article on the destruction of property, reported a correspondent from «Mediazona».
Anastasia Mochalina insisted that she did not participate in the preparation of the crimes and did not know what her friends were doing, even though they paid for taxis and purchases with her bank card. Her lawyer stated that Mochalina helped her friends «out of a sense of care at the genetic level».
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».
Photo: «Mediazona».