Ukrainian filmmaker sentenced to 20 years by Russian court

A Russian military court convicted a prominent Ukrainian filmmaker on Tuesday of conspiring to commit terror attacks and sentenced him to 20 years in prison in what critics called a politically motivated show trial. The court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don said Oleg Sentsov had set up a terror cell in the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed last year, and was plotting attacks. He will serve time in a maximum-security prison. Such lengthy prison sentences are rare in Russia even for politically tainted trials.The 39-year-old Crimean native was tried along with Crimean activist Alexander Kolchenko, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Hold on, Oleg. The time will come when those who organised the trial against you will find themselves in the dock.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko via Twitter

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter feud over Moscow’s takeover of Crimea and its support for the ongoing pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Sentsov defiantly flicked a victory sign, and he and Kolchenko sang the Ukrainian national anthem inside their glass enclosure after the verdict at a court in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. The two men, who have been held in Russia since last May, were tried as Russians, despite never having applied for citizenship. Sentsov’s lawyer Dmitry Dinze said his client would appeal the sentence, which was delivered at one of the only two Russian military courts authorised to hear terrorism cases.

This is a clear miscarriage of justice.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby

Arts Oleg Sentsov