The examination found no traces of the “Crimean saboteurs” Zakhtey and Panov on the items from the cache in the cemetery

The investigation found no traces of the “Crimean saboteurs” Andrei Zakhtey and Evgeniy Panov on the items seized from the cache in the cemetery in the village of Suvorovo. Zakhtey’s lawyer Alexey Ladin told Mediazona about this after familiarizing himself with the results of a comparative molecular forensic examination.

“Biological samples were compared from objects taken from a cache - a backpack in a cemetery, which contained a spice bag, apparently to scare away dogs, and from some kind of bottle. The biological samples of Panov and Zakhtey were compared with them. According to the results of the examination, there are no biological traces of Zakhtey and Panov on the things. In addition, we were able to familiarize ourselves with the results of two fingerprint examinations, judging by which, there are no fingerprints of either Panov or Zakhtey on the objects,” Ladin said.

The lawyer filed a request to photograph the case materials, but the investigator verbally explained that he “needed to consult with management, who would either allow it or not.”

Previously, a ban on photographing case materials was imposed on the case of Crimean human rights activist Emir-Usein Kuku, whom Ladin is also defending. The Supreme Court of Crimea overturned the investigator's ban and ordered that the lawyer be given such an opportunity. There was no response from the FSB investigative department for the Republic of Crimea to the court’s decision.

Andrei Zakhtey and Evgeniy Panov were detained on the night of August 7, 2016 during an incident in the Armyansk region, not far from the administrative border with the Kherson region. According to the FSB, a group of Ukrainian intelligence officers, which included Zakhtey and Panov, planned to commit sabotage at several targets in Crimea. Subsequently, the investigator, while extending the arrest of Andrei Zakhtey, insisted that he and Panov met in Ukraine in 2016 to plan a special operation in Crimea. However, Zakhtey claims that he has not been to Ukraine for seven years. As lawyer Ladin explained, the defense wants to ensure that FSB investigators send a request to the border service of the same department, asking whether Zakhtei crossed the border in 2016 or not.