Dmitry Lukin, a former children’s football coach, has been sentenced to 10.5 years in a strict regime penal colony for ordering the 2006 murder of Viktor Dorkin, the mayor of Dzerzhinsky. The Moscow Regional Court delivered the verdict on Friday, October 17th, nearly two decades after the crime took place.

The assassination of Viktor Dorkin occurred on March 31, 2006, when he was shot multiple times near his home. The hitman, Sergei Bulavin, and two accomplices, Igor Zolotenkov and Igor Stolyar, were apprehended and convicted in 2007. Zolotenkov implicated Lukin as the person who ordered the hit.

Lukin’s journey through the justice system has been complex. He was first detained in 2016 at Vnukovo Airport after returning from Cyprus and faced multiple trials. Remarkably, he was acquitted twice by juries before finally being convicted in the latest trial. Zolotenkov recanted his initial testimony during one of the trials, claiming he had falsely accused Lukin. Lukin was re-arrested in April 2024, leading to the current conviction.

Investigators believe that Dorkin’s murder stemmed from a conflict with the Lyubertsy criminal group, which had interests in the construction business within the city. Dorkin had reportedly refused an apartment offered to him in a new building shortly before his death. During his time as mayor, Dorkin was credited with significantly improving the city and leading it to become a science center. He also initiated a referendum to separate Dzerzhinsky from Lyubertsy’s subordination, a move that faced opposition from regional authorities.