ROSTOV-ON-DON – The North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found Artur Panov, a Ukrainian citizen, guilty of plotting a terrorist attack in the city, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom on August 11.
The judge ruled to sentence Panov to eight years in a general security penitentiary.
The court also found Maxim Smyshlyayev guilty of colluding with Panov and sentenced him to 10 years in a strict security penitentiary.
According to the investigation, Panov is an active adherent of nationalistic ideas and decided to commit a terrorist attack at a crowded place in Rostov-on-Don using an improvised explosive device.
They claim in order to carry out his designs, Panov began correspondence with a Rostov-on-Don resident via social networks, telling him that a terrorist attack was being plotted in his city and promising a monetary reward and evacuation from Russia if the attack was successful.
Russian security agencies detained the Ukrainian in early December 2015. The Russian defendant from Rostov-on-Don was captured in April 2016.
Panov was charged with plotting a terrorist attack and attempting to recruit another person for its commission, illegal manufacturing of explosives and public justification of terrorism. The Rostov-on-Don man was charged with complicity in terrorist activities.
The North Caucasus District Military Court started judicial proceedings on the Panov case on February 14, 2017.
