The Pecherskyy District Court of Kyiv has convicted the organizer of a Russian GRU sabotage and reconnaissance group who planned to kill Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, and a well-known activist, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has said.
The attacker was sentenced to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. He was found guilty under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
Art. 111 (high treason);
Art. 14, Art. 27, Art. 115 (preparation to commit murder);
Art. 260 (participation in armed groups not provided for by law);
Art. 258-3 (participation in a terrorist organization).
Comprehensive measures are also being taken to bring to justice Russian coordinators of subversive activities who are currently hiding in Russia, the SBU added.
According to the special service, the convict is a resident of temporarily occupied Luhansk, and as a member of the LPR terrorist organization he took an active part in hostilities against the ATO forces in eastern Ukraine. He was recruited by Russian military intelligence. One of his tasks was to plan the assassination of Ukrainian high-ranking officials.
For the murder of each of them, the Russian handlers promised the attacker a reward of 100,000 to 150,000 dollars.
The traitor was detained by SBU counterintelligence officers with the involvement of the Special Forces Centre A in Volyn Region last August.
Earlier, the SBU reported that the convict disguised his travel routes, so he entered Ukraine through the territory of Belarus. He was detained at the Domanove checkpoint in Volyn.