LUGANSK. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The Supreme Court of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) has sentenced a Russian citizen charged with high treason and involved in an attempt to kill Igor Kornet, former acting interior minister of the LPR, in May 2023 to 18 years behind bars, the press service for the region's prosecutor's office said.
An explosion occurred in a barbershop in central Lugansk on May 15, 2023. The explosion hurt Igor Kornet, who was then acting interior minister of the LPR, and six other people, employees and visitors of the barbershop, of which one later died. The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case based on the incident.
"The Supreme Court of the Lugansk People's Republic handed down a sentence in the criminal case against Alexander Degtyarev, 29, a citizen of the Russian Federation. He was found guilty of high treason (a crime envisaged by Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code)," the press service for the LPR prosecutor's office said in a statement.
It was established that the suspect was recruited by employees of the Ukrainian Security Service and "voluntarily collected information targeted against the security of the Russian Federation," which he provided to an employee of the Ukrainian Security Service, following their instructions in April-May 2023.
"Employees of the Ukrainian Security Service used the information to initiate an explosion in a barbershop in Lugansk, in which one person was killed and six people sustained injuries of various degrees," the agency press service said.
The court agreed with the position of the state prosecutor and sentenced the man to 18 years behind bars, the press service said. He will serve the first three years in prison and will serve the rest of the term in a high-security penal colony, it said.
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