Russians guilty of terrorism and spying

Two Russian men have been found guilty by an Angolan court of terrorism and spying after being accused of planning a coup and helping to organise deadly demonstrations in the southern African country last year, reports The Guardian. Lev Lakshtanov and Igor Ratchin were sentenced to eight and 11 years in jail respectively. They had denied the charges, claiming they were in Angola for cultural and business activities. Two Angolans were also tried alongside the Russians. The sports journalist Carlos Tomé received a two-year suspended prison sentence. Francisco de Oliveira, the secretary-general of National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) youth wing, was acquitted. Prosecutors have appealed against those sentences, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa. Lakshtanov and Ratchin have also appealed against their sentences, but will remain in detention while the appeal is processed, according to Lusa. Russia’s embassy in Angola did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Angolan prosecutors said Lakshtanov and Ratchin wanted to influence next year’s presidential elections, including by funding Angola’s largest opposition party, Unita, or by forcing a leadership change within the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, which has ruled the country since independence from Portugal in 1975. Prosecutors also claimed the men were linked to Africa Politology, a Russian disinformation and propaganda network that emerged from the Wagner mercenary group.