Vnukovo employees were convicted in Moscow in the case of the death of the head of Total

Christophe de Margerie was a consistent supporter of maintaining relations with Russia and opposed to the imposition of sanctions against it because of the events in Ukraine. The name Christophe de Margerie was given to one of the Russian tankers for the transportation of liquefied gas; by decree of the President of Russia, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Honor for the development of Russian-French economic and cultural ties.

Almost six years after the disaster, the Solntsevsky Court of Moscow passed sentences in this case. Former head of flights at Vnukovo airport Roman Dunayev was sentenced to six years in prison, dispatchers Alexander Kruglov and Nadezhda Arkhipova received five and a half and five years in prison. The defendants were found guilty under Part 3 of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code ("Violation of the rules for the safety of traffic and the operation of an aircraft of air transport, resulting in the death of two or more persons by negligence"), the TASS agency notes.

The lawyer of the defendants said four years ago that the dispatchers were innocent - all their actions complied with aviation security rules, work technologies and job descriptions, they acted clearly and consistently. Their colleagues from the Federal Trade Union of Air Traffic Controllers (FPAD) fought to drop charges against the air traffic controllers. Previously, they indicated that the cause of the tragedy could be technical problems with the airfield view locator, which prevented the dispatchers from keeping track of what was happening on the runway.

In addition to Roman Dunayev, Alexander Kruglov and Nadezhda Arkhipova, Vladimir Ledenyov, an engineer of the aerodrome service at Vnukovo airport, and Vladimir Martynenko, a snowblower driver, were also involved in the case, but the proceedings in relation to them were separated into separate proceedings. According to investigators, a snowblower driven by a drunk driver Vladimir Martynenko drove onto the runway without permission.

Vladimir Ledenyov and Vladimir Martynenko were sentenced to three and a half and four years in a general regime colony, but their convictions were cleared in connection with an amnesty timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. According to TASS, Nadezhda Arkhipova was also released from punishment under the amnesty. The defendants' lawyers plan to appeal the verdict until it has entered into legal force, they will remain under recognizance not to leave.