The 2nd Eastern District Military Court in Chita sentenced 36-year-old Vasily Votanovsky, a resident of the Chelyabinsk region, to 21 years of imprisonment on charges of preparing to blow up the Rubtsovsk city hall, reported «Siberian Express». The first four years of the sentence the man must spend in prison, the remaining part — in a high-security colony. He was also fined 300 thousand and given two years of restricted freedom.
According to the investigation, the man, «being opposed to the decision to conduct a special military operation», left Russia for Kyrgyzstan in September 2022, where he «decided to assist a foreign state in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation». It is claimed that he established contact with representatives of the Legion «Freedom of Russia» and «received methodological materials from a curator containing information on means and methods of disguise, as well as on the manufacture of improvised explosive devices».
In addition, Votanovsky allegedly «sent the curator a video recording of an oath of allegiance to the organization». He then traveled to Rubtsovsk, received an assignment to blow up the city hall, and manufactured an explosive device, but in October last year, he was detained by FSB officers.
In February, the state agency RIA «Novosti» published a video with Votanovsky, in which he states that he repented and wants to «atone for his guilt» by participating in the war in Ukraine on the side of the Russian forces.
* Recognized in Russia as a «terrorist» organization.