A former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer has confessed to being part of a criminal group of security agents accused of contract killings, armed robberies and kidnappings, the Znak news website reported Thursday from a court in Yekaterinburg.
According to court proceedings cited by Znak, a gang of active and former FSB servicemen was involved in organized criminal activities in the Siberian region of Tyumen between 2008 and 2016. Members of the group were reportedly detained last year and accused of at least seven murders, including contract killings and the murder of migrant workers and a taxi driver, among 13 other crimes. Their arrest reportedly led to the firing of the head of the FSB in Tyumen, Vadim Pyatiletov.
Court hearings on the “FSB gang” began on Dec. 12 at a Ural regional military court in Yekaterinburg, Znak reported.
“What is done is done. I admit every episode of my criminal activities. Either way, I can’t escape facing responsibility,” Alexei Korotkov, one of the members of the gang, was cited as saying by the news website during a court hearing on Thursday.
Prosecutors reportedly asked the court to sentence Korotkov to 24 years in prison, rather than a life sentence, saying he had helped investigators expose other members of the gang.
Three others suspects in the case, including an FSB sambo fighting instructor and a former warrant officer in the service, are expected to stand trial later this month, Znak reported.
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