The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has found 61-year-old Mykola Oliinyk, a resident of Kherson Oblast, guilty of preparing to assassinate the pro-Russian head of the administration of the village of Vesele in temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Source:TASS, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet; Kavkaz.Realii, a local project of Radio Liberty on the Caucasus

Details: Mykola Oliinyk has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. The first three years are to be served in prison and he is also required to pay a fine of 200,000 rubles [about US$2,047].

Quote:"Oliinyk was convicted under articles for participation in a terrorist organisation and preparation of a terrorist act, while charges of illegal weapon trafficking were dropped. The specific 'terrorist organisation' involved was not disclosed."

Details:According to Russian investigators, Oliinyk was recruited by the Security Service of Ukraine, which reportedly provided him with an automatic rifle and ammunition to assassinate the pro-Russian official. The prosecution claims that he was "waiting for the right opportunity" to commit the crime but was detained in October 2023.

Oliinyk himself asserts that he did not read the testimony he signed, as his lawyer assured him that "everything was fine".

According to Memorial Research and Educational Centre, Oliinyk had been diagnosed with stomach cancer before his arrest, requiring specialised treatment. He traveled to Zaporizhzhia in early 2022 for medical examinations.

During the trial, Oliinyk was held in pre-trial detention facility No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don and later transferred to pre-trial detention facility No. 2 in Taganrog, considered one of the harshest detention centres in Russia. This facility also holds Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians.

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