The contractor was sentenced to ten years for the murder of a Russian guardsman in the SMO zone

Contract employee Alexey Usenko was sentenced to ten years in a high-security colony for the murder of a soldier of the Russian Guard in the war zone in Ukraine. The incident occurred last year when Usenko stopped a car with two employees of the Rosgvardiya and demanded them to get out of the car. One of the employees introduced himself and took out identity documents, but at that moment Usenko shot the second employee of the Rosgvardiya in the stomach with an AKC-74U machine gun, fatally wounding him. He then ordered the driver to lie down on the ground, threatening to shoot him as well.

Usenko was stopped by other servicemen who persuaded him to hand over his weapons. The contract guard took the Russian Guards for Ukrainian saboteurs. During the trial, Usenko insisted on his innocence, claiming that he had not shot at anyone, and that saboteurs could have opened fire. The defense noted that there was no gunpowder left on Usenko's hands, and the cartridge case seized from him had a whole powder igniter capsule; besides, the contractor passed a polygraph test, and the examination did not establish the degree of his intoxication.

However, the court in Rostov-on-Don rejected the arguments of the defense and found Usenko guilty of premeditated murder and threatening to kill or causing serious harm to health. The court found microparticles of gunpowder and traces of the triggered capsule on the contractor's pea jacket, although they were washed off only 12 hours after the incident.

The accusation is based on the testimony of Usenko's colleagues, who reported that he was drunk - on the eve of the tragedy they drank cognac together. They also pointed out that Usenko behaved aggressively and inadequately.

The defense intends to seek a review of the case in the Military Court of Cassation in Novosibirsk.