Person who directed Iskander strike on Kramatorsk pizzeria in June 2023 gets life sentence

The court found Volodymyr Synelnyk guilty of treason for directing the missile strike on the Ria Pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk in June 2023, killing 13 people, and sentenced him to life in prison.

Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office; Office of the Prosecutor General; Security Service of Ukraine; Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "Prosecutors of Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office proved a resident of Kramatorsk guilty of high treason (Art. 111.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) in court. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with confiscation of property."

Details: The court found that Synelnyk, who worked at a gas transmission company, was recruited to perform tasks for Russia.

On 27 June 2023, he was once again approached by the "head of the Intelligence Department of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic" [a self-proclaimed and non-recognised quasi-state formation in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast – ed.]. The collaborator was tasked with verifying information about the presence of Ukrainian military personnel in Ria Pizza in Kramatorsk.

The perpetrator agreed to the offer. In the city centre, he noticed cars with military licence plates in the car park and the military themselves in the restaurant. He recorded two videos, which he immediately sent to his handler via Telegram. In order to avoid anyone noticing his interest in the location, the man carefully concealed all his actions from prying eyes.

Some time after the sending of the recordings, the Russians launched an attack with an Iskander-M ballistic missile, killing 13 people and injuring 64, including children.

Background:

• On 27 June 2023, Russian invaders attacked Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, hitting a restaurant. An Iskander-M missile targeted the crowded Ria Pizza pizzeria.
• The attack killed 13 people and injured 64.
• Among the dead was Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina.  
• According to the investigation, Synelnyk has lived in Kramatorsk all his life, worked for the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine LLC, and before that, for several years at the Novokramatorsk Machine-Building Plant, and was engaged in entrepreneurial activities. In the 1980s, he served in Afghanistan, where he met his "friend Arthur", who later found himself in the "service" of the illegal armed group DPR. In 2014, during the temporary occupation of Kramatorsk, the man recruited him to cooperate with the Russian secret services.

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