All five men accused of breaching the safety regulations of an “explosion-prone facility”—including Boris Rogozhkin, the chief of the night shift at the time of the accident, and Alexander Kovalenko, the head of the workshop who had signed off on the test—entered pleas of not guilty. But Brukhanov and Fomin admitted to criminal failures in their performance of official duties, under Article 165—the lesser offense, which carried a sentence of five years in prison. “I think I’m not guilty of the charges brought against me,” Brukhanov told the court. “But as a manager, I was negligent in some
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