Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been charged with plotting terrorist attacks in Crimea, is awaiting an acquittal, his lawyer Dmytro Dinze told reporters in Rostov-on-Don on Tuesday.

"Sentsov has pleaded not guilty and expects to be acquitted. He is speaking to representatives of the judicial system a little harshly because he has been held in custody for a long time. Furthermore, my client claimed that representatives of the FSB [Russia's Federal Security Service] had tortured him," Dinze said.

The defense team will only be content with Sentsov's acquittal, he said.

On Tuesday, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don started the hearings of a criminal case against Ukrainian film director Sentsov, accused of plotting to stage terror attacks in Crimea.