The Supreme Court has upheld the life sentences of three individuals convicted of a terrorist attack near the Palace of Sports in Kharkiv in 2015. The attack, carried out during a peaceful Unity March, resulted in the deaths of four people, including a 15-year-old boy and a policeman, and left 11 others injured.
The court reaffirmed the verdict of the first-instance court, which found the three citizens guilty of terrorism causing casualties and illegal handling of weapons. The sentence includes life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, prosecutors established that the attack occurred on 22 February 2015, during a march commemorating the Heavenly Hundred Heroes. An anti-personnel mine with a radio-controlled device, hidden in a snowdrift the previous day, detonated during the event. Two people died instantly, while two others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.
Investigators revealed that the main suspect traveled to Belgorod, Russia, where he coordinated with Russian special services, who promised him $10,000 for carrying out the attack. He recruited two accomplices, united by their hostility toward pro-Ukrainian activists from the Euromaidan movement, to execute the plan.
In December 2019, the Frunze District Court of Kharkiv found the three men guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment with confiscation of property. Their defence appealed, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, upholding the original ruling.
The Supreme Court’s decision marks the final judgment, affirming the prosecutors’ arguments and the rulings of the lower courts. The life sentences with confiscation of property remain in force.