Russian Anti-Police Vigilantes Sentenced to Life for Six Murders

Russia on Monday handed long jail terms including life sentences to a gang of vigilantes which carried out a series of deadly attacks targeting police in the Far East region.

Six young men were found guilty of banditry, arms trafficking, murder and robbery in the Primorye region on Russia's Pacific coast after an investigation that dragged on for years. 

Three were sentenced to life, while the others received terms of up to 25 years, Russia's Investigative Committee said.

The group, whose members were apparently motivated by a deep grudge against police, initially captured the imagination of the public in a country where the police force is considered immensely corrupt. They were quickly nicknamed the "Primorye partisans" or even "Robin Hoods" by media.

The gang carried out two attacks on police stations and murdered four civilians and two police officers, the regional prosecutor's office in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok said in a statement.

A regional court in Vladivostok ruled that the group's leader Alexander Kovtun formed the gang in 2009 "with the goal of attacking citizens and organisations in Primorye region". 

They were aged 18 to 23 when the crimes were committed, according to state television.

The father of one member, Roman Savchenko, told the press in 2010 that his son ran away from home to join the gang after being severely beaten in a police station.

Most gang members were arrested in June 2010. Two committed suicide while they were being held, authorities said during that time. The rest then spent years in pre-trial detention during the lengthy investigation and jury trial. They all pleaded not guilty.

Russian television showed the young men in hooded sweatshirts and baseball caps in the courtroom cage during sentencing. Some were smiling at teary-eyed relatives.

Three members of the group including its leader Kovtun were sentenced to life, the maximum punishment in Russia where there is a moratorium on death sentences.

Three others were sentenced to 25 years, 22 years, and 8 years and two months in prison, respectively.