Terrorist attack in Kharkiv near Sports Palace in 2015: Supreme Court confirms sentence of life imprisonment with confiscation of property for three defendants. PHOTOS
The Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the court of first instance, which found three citizens guilty of a terrorist act that resulted in the death of people and illegal handling of weapons (part 3 of Article 258, part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sentenced them to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, Censor.NET reports.
As noted, the prosecutors proved that the convicts committed the terrorist attack on 22 February 2015 near the Palace of Sports in Kharkiv during the peaceful 'Unity March' dedicated to the memory of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes. An anti-personnel mine with a radio-controlled device, which had been hidden in a snowdrift the day before, detonated. Two people were killed on the spot and 11 others were injured. Two of the injured later died in hospital. Among the dead were a 15-year-old boy and a policeman.
It was established that the main suspect personally travelled to Belgorod to communicate with Russian special services, who promised him $10,000 for committing the attack. He involved two of his acquaintances in the plan. They were united by their hostile attitude to pro-Ukrainian activists from the Euromaidan movement.
In December 2019, the Frunze District Court of Kharkiv found the men guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment with confiscation of property. The defence appealed the verdict. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the verdict of the first instance court.
Thus, the Supreme Court put an end to this case: the panel upheld the principled position of prosecutors and courts of two instances. The defendants were finally sentenced to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
As a reminder, during a peaceful march of 'Unity and Dignity' on 22 February 2015, an explosion occurred near the Palace of Sports in Kharkiv, killing 4 people - 15-year-old schoolboy Danylo Didik, 18-year-old student Mykola Melnychuk, 37-year-old police officer Vadym Rybalchenko, 52-year-old physicist, one of the organisers of the Kharkiv Euromaidan, Ihor Tolmachov, and injuring 11 others.
SSU officers detained three residents of Kharkiv region - Volodymyr Dvornikov, Viktor Tetiutskyi and Serhii Bashlykov - on suspicion of committing a terrorist attack. According to the security services, they were recruited by Russian special services, trained in Belgorod and were to receive $10,000 for the attack.
On 28 December 2019, the Frunze District Court of Kharkiv found the defendants guilty of the terrorist attack and sentenced them to life imprisonment, changing the measure of restraint from custody to personal commitment. On 29 December 2019, they were transferred to the non-government controlled territory as part of a mutual release of detainees.
