Russia sentences Melitopol family over alleged attack on collaborator and railway sabotage
Source: Russian news outlets Mediazona and Nastoyashchee Vremya
Details: It is reported that 29-year-old Artem Murdid, a resident of occupied Melitopol, was sentenced to life imprisonment, his common-law wife Anna Voshkoder to 20 years in a general regime penal colony, and his mother Anna Murdid to 22 years in a penal colony. The man will spend the first eight years in prison and the rest of his sentence in a strict regime colony.
According to the Russians, former Oschadbank cash collector Artem Murdid, his wife and mother were members of a "terrorist community" led by an unidentified employee of the Security Service of Ukraine. The women were supposedly involved in monitoring "targets of criminal attacks".
The Russian investigation claims that the accused were preparing four attacks. The only successful attack was the blowing up of the car of Ivan Tkach, director of the Municipal Transport company, who collaborated with the Russian authorities. Tkach was killed in the explosion, and a female employee of the company, Olena Syvashchenko, was seriously injured but survived.
In addition, the investigators stated that the family had supposedly attempted to blow up a section of the railway, and Artem on his own had attempted to blow up Deriabin, the head of the railway station, and the head of the occupation administration of Melitopol.
During the trial, Artem Murdid stated that he had learned about the essence of the charges from Russian law enforcement officials, who "created certain physical conditions – violence and torture". As a result of the torture, he said, he was forced to give testimony on which the charges are based. His mother, Anna Murdid, also spoke about the use of torture.
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