Defendant Vinnik fully admitted his guilt, while Kiselev and Kulachinsky only partially. The other three do not admit their guilt.
Sergei Yushenkov was killed on April 17, 2003 at the entrance to his house in the northwest of Moscow.
At the request of one of the main defendants, co-chairman of the Liberal Russia party Mikhail Kodanev, whom the Investigation accuses of the organisation of the murder, the trial is going on with the participation of jurors.
Apart from Kodanev, his aide in the Liberal Russia Alexander Vinnik, as well as Alexander Kulachinsky, Igor Kiselev, Vladislav Palkov and Anton Drozd are in the dock. The latter three were earlier imprisoned.
As follows from the indictment, co-chairman of the Liberal Russia party Mikhail Kodanev wanted to independently dispose of the party's money. With this aim in view he decided to remove Yushenkov. For this purpose he formed a criminal group, State Prosecutor Dmitry Shokhin said. Kodanev handed over Yushenkov's photograph and 50,000 dollars to his aide Vinnik. The latter, in his turn, found Kiselev who bought a gas pistol, re-made for firing with live cartridges, from which Yushenkov was killed. Kiselev hired Kulachinsky, Drozd and Palkov in Moscow. All of them worked out a plan for removing Yushenkov.