Key facts
- Ananiev was accused of plotting to assassinate Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian proxy governor of occupied Crimea.
- Two other individuals, Volodymyr Bodnar and Oksana Shevchenko, received 13 and 10-year sentences respectively for involvement in the plot.
- Ananiev suffers from health issues including vision problems and high blood pressure.
A Russian court in Rostov-on-Don on October 22 sentenced 77-year-old Crimean political prisoner Volodymyr Ananiev to 18 years in prison. The court alleged Ananiev was part of a group that planned to assassinate Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian proxy governor of occupied Crimea. Ananiev was detained in Simferopol in February 2024. Russian investigators claim the group tracked Aksyonov's car and prepared an explosive device. Two other individuals accused in the plot, Volodymyr Bodnar and Oksana Shevchenko, were previously sentenced to 13 and 10 years respectively. Ananiev will serve the first four years in prison, followed by time in a maximum security penal colony, and was fined 600,000 rubles ($7,300). Russia has continued to repress Crimean Tatars and other residents since its 2014 occupation of the peninsula, with around 300 people, including journalists and activists, held on politically motivated charges as of spring.