A regional court in Primorsky Krai has acquitted the five so-called “Primorsky Partisans” of murdering four people. The partisan group is said to have waged a guerrilla war against local police, whom it accused of corruption and violent abuses of power. Despite the Partisans' deadly methods, they enjoyed something of a “Robin Hood” legacy among many ordinary Russians.

A jury had earlier issued its own not-guilty verdict. According to the court, the defendants should be acquitted due to the “unestablished circumstances of the crime.”

Prosecutors say they plan to appeal the acquittal.

The so-called “Primorsky Partisans” (Alexey Nikitin, Vadim Kovtun, Alexander Kovtun, Vladimir Ilyutikov, and Maxim Kirillov) are suspected of having attacked and murdered four people in 2009. The men were convicted of the killings once, before the Supreme Court overturned the ruling.

Alexey Nikitin and Vadim Kovtun were freed and released from state custody immediately following their acquittal. They have spent the past six years in prison. The remaining “Partisans” remain behind bars, in connection with criminal sentences unrelated to murder but also tied to their activities as members of the “partisan” group.