A court in Ulan-Ude sentenced Mikhail Pichugin to three years of forced labor.

The Oktyabrsky court of Ulan-Ude found Mikhail Pichugin guilty and sentenced him to three years of forced labor for violating the rules of operation of water transport in the Sea of Okhotsk, who drifted on a catamaran boat for 67 days. This was reported on April 14 by a correspondent of Izvestia from the courtroom.

He was also fined 40,000 rubles and withheld 10% of his salary.

During the debate between the parties, the prosecutor asked for three years in a penal colony for Pichugin. Earlier it was reported that the man partially pleaded guilty under Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Forgery, manufacture or trafficking of forged documents") and Article 263 ("Violation of traffic safety rules and operation of marine transport").

On October 15, 2024, fishermen discovered a boat in the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk in Kamchatka, which disappeared on August 9. The only survivor, Mikhail Pichugin, was on it, and there were the bodies of two of his relatives — his brother and nephew. Pichugin was taken to Magadan and hospitalized. After being discharged at the end of the same month, he returned to Buryatia.

In January of this year, Pichugin confessed to violating the law. It was clarified that he had gone beyond the 3 km allowed by law from the coast. The investigators also charged the man with violating the rules of operation of a small vessel, resulting in the death of people.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.