The Second Western District Military Court on Wednesday sentenced Varazh Manukyan to 22 years in a strict-regime penal colony for his role in the February 3 bombing at the Alye Parusa residential complex in Moscow. Manukyan was found guilty of committing a terrorist act resulting in death (Article 205, Part 3, Paragraph 'b' of the Russian Criminal Code) and illegal trafficking of explosives as part of an organized group (Article 222.1, Part 4).
The court ordered Manukyan to serve the first six years in prison and the remainder in a strict-regime colony. He was also fined 500,000 rubles (about $5,500) and had his Mercedes confiscated — investigators said the car was used to transport the improvised explosive device. Additionally, the court ordered Manukyan to pay 6.77 million rubles (about $74,000) in compensation to victims. The prosecutor had requested a 24-year sentence. The trial was held behind closed doors.
The explosion in the lobby of the upscale Alye Parusa complex killed Armen Sarkisyan, founder of the Armenian ArBat battalion fighting on Russia's side in Ukraine, and Paruyr Matevosyan, whom investigators said was carrying the bomb. According to the investigation, Manukyan and other suspects surveilled Sarkisyan, tracking his movements and security. Manukyan allegedly stored and transported the explosive device, handed it to Matevosyan, and then remotely detonated it after Sarkisyan entered the building.
Mediazona reported that before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sarkisyan was described in Ukrainian media as a crime boss known as Armen Gorlovsky. Ukrainian authorities accused him of organizing attacks by 'titushky' — hired thugs — on participants in the Euromaidan protests; journalist Vitaliy Veremiy was killed during one such attack. The Insider wrote that Sarkisyan was also considered close to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.