The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Ukrainian citizen Maksim Vorobyov to 16 years in prison in the case of explosions in the Zaporizhzhia region, reported «Memorial»*. He will spend the first three years in prison, and the remaining term in a high-security colony. The court also imposed a fine of 500 thousand rubles.
33-year-old resident of Melitopol Maksim Vorobyov was accused under articles of «participation in a terrorist community», «assistance to terrorist activities», «committing an act of terrorism by a group of persons by prior conspiracy», and illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, and carrying of explosives and explosive devices.
According to the investigation, at the beginning of 2023, Vorobyov «joined a terrorist community, expressing readiness to participate in the preparation and commission of terrorist acts on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia region». On April 2, 2023, he allegedly persuaded his acquaintance, 24-year-old Melitopol resident Maksim Timofeev, to join the same community. The criminal case against Timofeev was separated into a separate proceeding, which is also currently being considered by the military court in Rostov.
The case against Vorobyov was submitted to the court in July of this year.
According to the prosecution, Vorobyov, together with Timofeev, «using homemade explosive devices and their components obtained through hidden caches», blew up three locomotives on the territory of the Melitopol locomotive depot from April to June 2023. The further actions of the men were «stopped by law enforcement officers», as stated in the case materials. There were no casualties, but this was classified as «terrorist actions».
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».