Russia Submits Case Against 3 Detained for Alleged Assassination Plot in Crimea

The Russian Prosecutor's Office announced that the case against three people detained in Crimea on suspicion of preparing an assassination attempt on the Russian head of the peninsula Sergey Aksyonov has been submitted to the court.

According to Crimea.Realii, the case concerns Vladimir Ananiev, Vladimir Bodnar and Oksana Shevchenko. According to the Russian investigation, in February 2022, a citizen of Ukraine "created an organized group to commit a terrorist act in Crimea". It is alleged that the group included Bodnar and Shevchenko. They were supposed to monitor the routes and means of transportation of Aksyonov's official car. Later, Ananiev became the third member of the group. He allegedly stored the components necessary for the manufacture of a homemade bomb intended for a terrorist attack.

"Bodnar transported a radio-controlled improvised explosive device, a transmitter and a receiver from Zaporizhzhia region in a car, which were planned to be used to blow up the official car of the head of Crimea," the Russian prosecutor's office said.

They also claim that the defendants hid the explosive device in a garage box previously rented by Shevchenko in Simferopol.

They are accused of preparing for a terrorist act, illegal acquisition, storage, carrying, transportation of explosives and explosive devices. The criminal cases were sent to the Southern District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

Earlier, the Crimean Human Rights Group noted that Vladimir Ananiev was a Crimean public figure, engaged in legal and journalistic activities, took an active part in land reform, protecting the rights of landowners.

Recently, occupation forces conducted illegal searches in the homes of Crimean Tatars and detained five people. Mass detentions, trumped-up charges, and searches are just some of the punitive measures that the occupation authorities systematically use to suppress resistance.

In total, 61 searches were recorded in the occupied Crimea in 2024, of which 35 were conducted in the homes of Crimean Tatars. Also, according to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, after the occupation of Crimea, the Russian Federation has been actively practicing religious persecution on the peninsula. Currently, 117 people are being persecuted in the so-called Hizb ut-Tahrir case.

Олеся Ланцман