A mixed martial arts fighter who formed a neo-nazi gang that murdered an Armenian man was handed a lengthy prison sentence for his crimes.
Nikita Fedonenko, a 24-year-old MMA fighter who represented the Omsk regional branch of the Russian MMA Union, was found guilty of extremism, robbery, murder, and intentional infliction of minor bodily harm based on racial hatred and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Fedonenko was arrested and charged in 2016 with “causing grievous bodily harm that negligently caused the death of a person”. According to news agency “SuperOmsk,” Fedonenko attacked Vahe Zalibiakan, an Armenian immigrant ten years his senior, and sent him to the hospital, where he died of his wounds.