MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. A Russian court sentenced Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexey Goncharenko (listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist), who called for missile strikes on Moscow, to 18 years in prison in absentia, the Moscow prosecutor's office said in a statement.

"After considering the prosecution’s case, Alexey Goncharenko, a 45-year-old citizen of Ukraine, was sentenced in absentia to 18 years in prison, with the first five years in prison, and the remainder of the sentence in a high-security penal colony. The criminal case was considered by the court in accordance with the general procedure of criminal proceedings in the absence of the wanted defendant," the statement said.

He was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public calls for terrorist activities committed using electronic or information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet), item "a" of Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code (actions aimed at humiliating a group of persons based on nationality, committed publicly, including using information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet, with the threat of violence).

The court also deprived him of the right to post information, manage websites and channels using electronic and information and telecommunication networks for four years.

On October 1, 2024, Goncharenko, participating in the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, publicly called for terrorist acts to be committed on the Russian territory by bombing Moscow with missiles.

Goncharenko had previously been sentenced to imprisonment in absentia for making public calls to carry out terrorist activities, extremist statements, as well as statements containing deliberately false information about the use of the Russian army.