Based on the evidence collected by the SSU, the court sentenced Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the state duma of the federal assembly of russia, to 15 years in prison.

During the court hearing in absentia, Volodin was found guilty under Article 110.3 of the CCU (encroachment on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and inviolability).

According to the investigation, the official is a confidant of the kremlin leader and was directly involved in the preparation of russia’s full-scale invasion.

For this purpose, on 15 February 2022, he put to a vote in the session hall a resolution to appeal to putin with a request to recognize the ‘independence’ of the temporarily occupied districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

At the same time, Volodin publicly supported this decision and secured the required number of ‘votes’ of russian deputies.

Subsequently, the speaker of the state duma organized the ratification of the so-called ‘agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance’ between the kremlin and the terrorist organizations ‘L/DNR’.

Later, the kremlin used Volodin’s ‘legislative initiatives’ to launch a full-scale war against Ukraine.

Currently, the official continues to justify the temporary seizure of our country’s territories and supports russia’s armed aggression. He often states this during meetings of the state duma and on the air of kremlin propagandists.

Volodin is in russia. Hence, the sentence term will begin on the day of his actual detention.

The investigation was carried out by the SSU Office in Khmelnytskyi region under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.