Sentsov, who didn’t apply for Russian citizenship, was grabbed on a street in Crimea’s capital in May 2014 by Russian security officers and resurfaced days later in custody in Moscow. Dozens of prominent filmmakers, including Russian Golden Globe winner Andrei Zvyagintsev, have petitioned the Kremlin to release Sentsov. A second defendant, Oleksandr Kolchenko, was found guilty of being a terrorist community member and of complicity in a terrorist act and was convicted at the same time to ten years.
The convicts began singing the Ukrainian anthem after their verdicts were pronounced. Sentsov then shouted “Glory to Ukraine!.” Sentsov is best known for his 2011 film “Gaamer.” During the 2014 Crimean crisis he helped deliver food and supplies to Ukrainian servicemen blocked at their Crimean bases.
