A Russian court in Rostov-on-Don said on Oct. 22 it had sentenced 77-year-old Crimean political prisoner Volodymyr Ananiev to 18 years in prison over an alleged plot to assassinate Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian proxy governor of occupied Crimea.
Moscow has continued to repress Crimean Tatars and other residents, including journalists and activists, of the peninsula since its occupation in 2014. Around 300 people, including journalists and activists, were being held on politically motivated charges as of spring, more than 150 of them Crimean Tatars, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said.
Russian investigators claim Ananiev was part of a group that tracked Aksyonov's car and prepared an explosive device to blow it up.
Ananiev was detained in the Russian-occupied city of Simferopol in February 2024. Two other people accused of involvement in the plot, Volodymyr Bodnar and Oksana Shevchenko, were previously sentenced to 13 and 10 years in prison, respectively.
Under the sentence, Ananiev will spend the first four years in prison and the remainder in a Russian maximum security penal colony. He was also fined 600,000 rubles ($7,300).
Born in western Ukraine, Ananiev later moved to Crimea, where he became an activist, worked in law and journalism, and campaigned for landowners' and Crimean Tatars' rights.
The NGO Crimean Tatar Resource Center said the man has undergone eye surgery and suffers from high blood pressure.
"Volodymyr Ananiev is the oldest Crimean political prisoner. He suffers from vision problems and issues with his spine, muscles, kidneys, and legs, and walks with a cane," the statement read.
According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, the Russian-installed authorities have persecuted 64 elderly Crimean political prisoners. Forty-five have been sentenced, while 19 remain in pretrial detention.
Ananiev's wife, Anna Sviatnenko, called the case against her husband "trumped-up" and told Suspilne the defense would appeal.