MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. According to the press service of the Investigative Committee, those implicated in the criminal case linked to the attempted assassination of RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan carried out six assaults targeting foreigners and individuals with non-traditional sexual orientations.

The statement revealed that between September 2022 and July 2023, Mikhail Balashov and at least eleven members of his cell - including minors - were responsible for these six attacks. Furthermore, they circulated videos of the assaults online to incite extremist activity.

According to an earlier report, the Second Western District Military Court has handed down sentences ranging from six to twenty-five years in prison to those accused in the criminal case linked to the attempted assassination of RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.

Mikhail Balashov, a mechanic working at a car repair shop, received the heaviest sentence: four years of imprisonment, with the remainder served in a maximum-security penal colony. He was also fined 800,000 rubles and subjected to a two-year restriction of freedom. Yegor Savelyev, previously convicted of attempted murder, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 800,000 rubles (roughly $10,400).

The case involved twelve defendants. During closing arguments, the prosecution sought sentences of up to 25 years in prison for the accused.