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Russian Court Sentences Eight People to Life in Prison Over 2022 Crimean Bridge Explosion
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A court in Rostov-on-Don has handed down life sentences to eight individuals accused of involvement in the October 2022 explosion on the Crimean Bridge.
This was reported by the Russian media outlet Mediazona on November 27.
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Investigators allege that six business owners, a farmer, and a long-haul driver assisted Ukrainian intelligence in detonating a truck packed with explosives, an attack that resulted in five deaths.
Russian officials claim the blast was orchestrated by Ukrainian security services and that the explosive device was transported from Odesa, passing through Bulgaria, Armenia, and Georgia, with the cargo paperwork falsified en route.
All of the convicted individuals maintain they are innocent.
“We all went through it—all eight of us—we all passed the polygraphs. We all proved our innocence. We fully cooperated. We went to law enforcement ourselves and gave testimony voluntarily. There is not a single person who testified against us. All the witnesses say we are innocent. All the evidence says we are innocent. All 116 volumes of the case say we are innocent. Show people the truth. We are innocent. We are innocent!,” they said, according to Mediazona
At the same time, a Russian court has issued a harsh verdict against a man from Bashkortostan on state treason charges. Ernest Sharafutdinov was sentenced to 13 years in a strict-regime penal colony by the Krasnodar Regional Court for allegedly providing information to a representative of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry intelligence agency.
According to the outlet, citing the Russian Federal Security Service, Sharafutdinov allegedly opposed Russia’s policies and its invasion of Ukraine and contacted a Ukrainian intelligence officer in March 2024 to establish cooperation. He was then purportedly instructed to carry out sabotage activities in Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.
Earlier, a Russian military court sentenced 21-year-old Yana Suvorova, the administrator of the Telegram channel “Melitopol tse Ukraina” (“Melitopol is Ukraine”), to 14 years in prison.
She was found guilty of terrorism, espionage, and participation in a terrorist organization. The proceedings were held behind closed doors.
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