The key facts

  • Erik Karimov has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for preparing a terrorist attack at the Cherkessk prosecutor's office building
  • He passed video and photo materials about the prosecutor's office and data on surveillance cameras to his handler
  • He bought components for explosives at stores in Cherkessk and was detained in Ust-Dzheguta before assembling the device

Court verdict

Erik Karimov, a native of Bashkiria, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for preparing a terrorist attack at the prosecutor's office building in Cherkessk, the capital of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. This was reported by a representative of the Southern District Military Court, TASS writes (citing Gazeta.Ru).

What the defendant is charged with

According to the court, Karimov conducted surveillance of the prosecutor's office building and sent video and photo materials with a detailed description of its location to a member of a terrorist community. He also passed on to his handler information about the placement of outdoor surveillance cameras on the building. The next step was to be a bomb: the defendant bought components for making explosives at various stores in Cherkessk and was supposed to assemble them in Ust-Dzheguta, but on that day he was detained by law enforcement. As noted in the court's statement, the man acted on orders from the 'Russian Volunteer Corps', which is designated as a terrorist organization in Russia.

Context

In the court's statement cited by Gazeta.Ru, this case is mentioned alongside other verdicts in terrorism preparation cases: at the end of October, the same Southern District Military Court sentenced two female residents of Zaporizhzhia region who, on orders from Ukrainian intelligence services, had been preparing assassination attempts on employees of territorial divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; they were detained after receiving explosive devices. Earlier, the court also sentenced defendants in a case concerning a series of terrorist attacks in Melitopol. Unlike these cases, the proceedings in Karimov's case concerned the preparation of a terrorist attack on the territory of Karachay-Cherkessia.