The 1st Western District Military Court in St. Petersburg sentenced Nikita Krasilnikov and Rinat Ilyin to 16 and 15 years in a maximum-security penal colony. The court found them guilty of participation in a terrorist organization, attempted terrorist attack, and treason. This was reported by Mediazona.
The first four years of their sentences are to be served in prison, after which they will be transferred to a penal colony. Earlier, prosecutors had asked for 18 and 17 years in prison for the two St. Petersburg residents.
What the case is about
Krasilnikov, Ilyin, and a third defendant, Artem Shcherbakov, were detained in February 2024. According to investigators, the group planned to send poisoned humanitarian aid to fighters of the Espanola brigade, which is fighting against Ukraine, as well as to residents of the occupied part of the Donetsk region.
The prosecution says that in early 2024, Shcherbakov told Krasilnikov and Ilyin about the activities of the Russian Volunteer Corps, which fights on Ukraine’s side, and proposed that they carry out assignments for it. According to the prosecution, they agreed.
Investigators also say that one member of the group, acting on instructions from an RVC representative, conducted surveillance of sites in St. Petersburg. This allegedly included monitoring the Nevsky Front humanitarian aid collection point and a store linked to Rusich. Later, according to the prosecution, the defendants placed a GPS tracker on a vehicle transporting cargo to the front.
According to the investigation, Shcherbakov was supposed to mix poison into food products and send them to Espanola fighters and residents of the DPR disguised as humanitarian aid. Prosecutors say that in February he received a poisonous substance in a sack weighing about 20 kilograms. Later, during searches, law enforcement officers found cadmium nitrate in the defendants’ possession.
The third defendant
Artem Shcherbakov made a deal with investigators and testified against Krasilnikov and Ilyin, who denied guilt. His case was separated into standalone proceedings, and in March of this year he was sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony.
Lawyers for Krasilnikov and Ilyin said that Shcherbakov was the main and only real defendant in the case. In their view, investigators considered one detainee insufficient and therefore expanded the case into one about a “terrorist cell” that was allegedly acting on instructions from the RVC.