The group that used Hollywood code names discussed kidnapping or killing Kremlin opponents as they targeted reporters, diplomats, and Ukrainian troops in the UK, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said. No one was physically harmed, but the group put lives in jeopardy, prosecutors said. “It is self-evident that a high price attaches to the safety and interests of this nation,” Justice Nicholas Hilliard, said. “The defendants put these things at risk by using this country as a base from which to plan the various operations. ... Anyone who uses this country in that way, in the circumstances of this case, commits a very serious offence.”

Ringleader Orlin Roussev, who operated out of a former guesthouse in the English seaside resort town of Great Yarmouth, was given the stiffest sentence – 10 years and eight months in prison – for being involved in all six operations discovered by police. He and the others faced up to 14 years behind bars. (Jamaica Gleaner)