A Moscow military court has sentenced Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Bondarev and Major Dmitry Dmitrakov to four years in prison for failing to repel an attack against the Russian Federation, the Kommersant daily reported Tuesday.
Bondarev and Dmitrakov pleaded not guilty at the closed trial. The two men have already spent approximately a year and a half in pre-trial detention, so may soon be eligible for parole.
The court’s ruling marks the first successful prosecution for “failure to repel an attack”. A criminal investigation is opened every time Ukraine launches a successful attack on Russia. If incoming missiles or drones are not shot down or neutralised by Russian forces, negligence charges are filed against those responsible for regional air defence.
The case against Bondarev and Dmitrakov was launched in response to a Ukrainian ballistic missile attack on an ammunition depot in Russia’s southern Belgorod region in April last year. The attack killed seven Russian servicemen and wounded a further 43.
