Russia jails Ukrainian film director over terror charge

A Russian court on Tuesday found Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov guilty of conspiracy to commit terror attacks in Crimea and sentenced him to 20 years in prison, media reported.

The sentence was awarded by the North Caucasus District Military Court.

Sentsov was arrested in May 2014 during a protest against Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula two months earlier, BBC reported.

He denies the charges against him and his cause has been taken up by other directors, including Mike Leigh, Stephen Daldry and Pedro Almodovar.

Another Crimea activist, Alexander Kolchenko, who was being tried with Sentsov, was sentenced to 10 years.

Sentsov, best known for his 2011 film "Gamer", was accused of plotting to blow up a monument to Lenin in Crimea and set fire to the Crimean offices of pro-Moscow political organisations.

The Ukrainian government says he is being punished for being a Crimea-based pro-Ukrainian activist.

The 39-year-old director is one of a number of Ukrainian figures held by Russia. Military pilot Nadiya Savchenko is also facing trial in southern Russia, accused of killing two people.

Both have been described by the US as Ukrainian hostages held by Russia.