The Southern District Military Court sentenced Belarusian citizen Matvei Kitau to 25 years in prison in a case involving the alleged preparation of an explosion at a military recruitment center for contract service in Novorossiysk, the court’s press service reported.
It is alleged that in December 2024, while in Krasnodar, Kitau began corresponding with a person who identified himself as an employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). According to the court, he agreed to confidential cooperation with a foreign intelligence service.
On Feb. 26, 2025, Kitau allegedly received an assignment to carry out a terrorist attack in Novorossiysk using an improvised explosive device. He was also sent instructions on how to assemble and activate the device. The following day, Kitau allegedly traveled to Novorossiysk, retrieved components for an IED from a cache and moved them to another cache, where they remained until law enforcement officers seized them.
In court, Kitau pleaded guilty. He also said that he received $805 from the person who identified himself as an SBU officer for carrying out the assignment.
The court sentenced him to 25 years in a maximum-security correctional colony. Kitau is to spend the first five years in prison. He was also fined 300,000 Russian rubles (more than $3,500).
The sentence has not yet entered into force and may be appealed to the Military Court of Appeal.
