According to media reports, Krylov shot and killed 51-year-old Roman Govasari, a native of Azerbaijan, after a dispute about Ukraine on the night of August 15, 2022. Witnesses who were in the same company as the serviceman told the court that the taxi driver refused to take them after they left the cafe. The officer then kicked the car, after which he had a verbal conflict with the driver.
“After some time, Krylov took a pistol out of his chest bag and, saying that he would ruin his tires, fired a shot at the front of Govasari’s car, which after the incident ran in his direction. Krylov shot Govasari twice, after which he fell, and they left in a taxi,” follows from the witness testimony.
The defense position was based on the fact that the serviceman “wanted to avoid conflict,” while the taxi driver insulted the underage girls who were with him, threatened them and provoked a conflict. Krylov’s lawyer also insisted on the unreasonable classification of murder in a generally dangerous manner, since the Makarov pistol from which the soldier fired “has a minimal affected area, is designed in such a way as to limit the risk of injury to third parties, and is specifically intended for use by law enforcement officers.”
“After the warning shot, Govasari unpredictably aggressively ran towards him and swung his leg at one of the girls, protecting her and himself, Krylov fired shots at his legs, but due to the swiftness of the attacker’s actions and the low light, the bullets landed higher. By committing murder in this way, Krylov did not see a danger to the lives of other persons, but, on the contrary, defended them,” the defense lawyer argued. In addition, the defense considered the motive of hooliganism unproven.
The Military Court of Appeal excluded from the sentence the instruction to convict the officer for hooliganism associated with resisting a person suppressing a violation of public order, as well as an aggravating circumstance under Part 2 of Art. 213 of the Criminal Code (committing a crime against a person in connection with the performance of his public duty). The latter is also excluded from the murder verdict. The court also reduced Krylov’s final sentence to 12 years and 6 months of strict regime.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”