Alleged member of Basayev's unit gets long prison term

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Alexander Umantsev to 19 years and 6 months in prison. He was found guilty of attacking the Novolaksky District of Dagestan during the second Russian-Chechen war.

According to investigators, Umantsev, a member of the unit of field commander Shamil Basayev, attacked employees of the Novolaksky District Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on September 5, 1999.

"Umantsev fired aimed shots from a machine gun. As a result of the attack, three police officers were killed," the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said in a statement.

A criminal case was opened against the man under two articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: participation in an armed group and an attempt on the lives of law enforcement officers.

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