Russia sentences former Ukrainian boxer to 20 years in prison for terror attack

Moscow, Sep 15 (IANS) The Second Western District Military Court in Russia on Monday sentenced former Ukrainian boxing champion and a serviceman of the Kraken assault unit, Andrey Prikhodko, to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of blowing up a Gazelle vehicle with Russian military personnel in the Belgorod region in 2023. 

In a verdict, the judge stated, "For all the crimes committed, Prikhodko is finally sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment, with the first five years to be served in prison, and the rest of the term in a maximum security penal colony, with a fine of 800 thousand rubles."

Furthermore, the time spent in custody from the moment of Andrey Prikhodko's arrest until the verdict came into effect, which is expected to be appealed, will be counted towards his sentence, Russia's leading Tass news agency reported.

In addition, Prikhodko was asked to pay about 13,000 Rubles in expenses for investigative bodies and slightly over 12,000 Rubles for the services of a lawyer appointed by Russia, who, during the trial of the case of the Ukrainian soldier-machine gunner, requested a reclassification of the charge against him from a terrorist act to an attempted terrorist act.

During the trial, Prikhodko has accepted to have committed crimes under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (terrorist attack), Article 222.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal circulation of large-caliber and firearms, ammunition), Article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (smuggling of weapons, ammunition and explosive devices) and Article 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal crossing of the state border), Tass reported.

The trial of Andrey Prikhodko took place in the 2nd Western District Military Court for almost a month. The trial was interrupted during the debate stage and returned to the stage of judicial probe due to lack of expert examination results in the case. Prikhodko accepted his guilt and signed a confession. During the trial, the state prosecution had requested the court to sentence Kraken fighter to 25 years of imprisonment and impose a fine of 700 thousand rubles.

According to the indictment, Prikhodko's unit invaded Belgorod at the end of May 2023 to conduct terrorist acts in the populated areas of region. On June 6, 2023, Ukrainian soldiers fired at Gazelle vehicle with Russian servicemen on the outskirts of a village in the border area, completely destroying the equipment, as per the Tass report. However, the Russian servicemen were able to escape from the vehicle in time.

Born in Mariupol in 1994, Prikhodko, during his 15-year sports career, became the champion and winner of the Ukrainian Boxing Cup, and the world champion in kickboxing. A boxer from the Kraken sabotage unit was injured and captured near Artemovsk in July 2023 during an offensive from the village of Chasiv Yar. Andrey Prikhodko has said that he became part of the service after having difference of viewpoint with his coach.

--IANS

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