Ukrainian film director sentenced to 20 years for “terrorism offences”.

Co-defendant Oleksandr Kolchenko was also found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to 10 years.

The prosecution had called for a 23-year sentence for Sentsov, 39.

The sentences are politically motivated and the two men will appeal them as far as the European Court if necessary, Dinze said after the hearing.

Acclaimed filmmakers from across the globe, including Spain s Pedro Almodovar and Britain s Mike Leigh, have written to Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing concern over Sentsov s prosecution.

Sentsov smiled as the verdict was delivered, before he and Kolchenko both sang the Ukrainian national anthem in a courtroom packed with journalists and supporters.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Twitter: “Hold on, Oleg”. “The time will come when those who organized this trial against you will themselves sit in the dock”. Moscow denies Western accusations that it has helped the separatist militias by sending serving troops and arms.

“It played into Russia’s propaganda war against Ukraine and was redolent of Stalinist-era show trials of dissidents”, said Heather McGill of Amnesty worldwide. Sentsov and Kolchenko are in good spirits despite the verdicts, he said. That includes Sentsov and Ukrainian pilot, MP Nadia Savchenko.

Russian Federation denies claims that he is a political prisoner.

Mr Feygin said that the only chance for any prisoner in such a case is “high level political negotiations”.

The court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don said Oleg Sentsov had set up a terror cell in the Crimean Peninsula, which Russian Federation annexed previous year, and was plotting attacks.

Russia’s FSB, the successor to the Soviet KGB, arrested the men in May 2014 at a pro-Ukraine rally in Crimea.

“On the same day, Sentsov got 20 years and [Yevgeniya] Vasilyeva was granted early release”. There were no casualties in the attack.

The sentence follow a controversial trial that has been condemned in the West as an effort to put pressure on the Ukrainian government. According to media reports, prosecutors incredulously argued that Sentsov’s visible wounds were the result of a long-standing involvement in sadomasochistic sexual practices.

Defense lawyers also argued that witnesses had been tortured to produce testimony.

Last week Eston Kohver, an Estonian security official, was sentenced to 15 years for espionage by a court in Pskov.

“The men have been subjected to an unfair trial on “terrorism” charges relating to their opposition to Russia’s occupation of Crimea”, the rights group said. No-one was injured in the attacks.

The 39-year-old director is one of a number of Ukrainian figures held by Russian Federation.