The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don dismissed the criminal case against 71-year-old Ukrainian citizen Viktor Demchenko in connection with his death. Information about this appeared in a card on the court’s website, and the Memorial Society drew attention to this.
Demchenko was accused of espionage, participation in a terrorist community and illegal acquisition or possession of firearms (Article 276 of the Criminal Code, Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code and Part 1 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code).
TASS sources Law enforcement agencies claim that Demchenko died in a Rostov prison hospital on December 31 from a stroke.
As Memorial writes, it is known that Demchenko was born and lived in the city of Mospino, Donetsk region of Ukraine.
The Southern District Military Court registered the case materials against Demchenko at the end of September 2023. The details of the process are unknown — espionage cases are considered behind closed doors. Before the death of the defendant, seven hearings on the merits took place.