The Southern District Military Court found five Ukrainian citizens guilty of "aiding" and "participating in a terrorist community," reported the TASS agency. Three of the defendants were also convicted of "illegal border crossing," "espionage," and "attempted murder" of a security officer.
According to the investigation, from 2016 to 2018, the accused Sergey Gruzinov, Viktor Shidlovsky, and Natalia Vlasova, under the guidance of SBU employees, were preparing for terrorist activities in Russia — they were trained in handling weapons and explosives.
In the spring of 2018, Gruzinov received an order to kill a certain high-ranking official in the "Ministry of State Security of the DPR," but he and the other participants in the operation were detained.
Sergey Gruzinov was sentenced to 20 years in a penal colony, Viktor Shidlovsky to 22 years, Natalia Vlasova to 18 years, Gia Kapanadze and Maxim Vorona to 6 and 5.5 years in a penal colony. The case of Andrey Borzunov, who cooperated with the convicted, was separated into a separate proceeding. He died before the verdict was announced, writes Sotavision*.
* Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent" and "undesirable" organization.