A bomb detonated in a train carriage between the central metro stations Avtozavodskaya and Paveletskaya in February, and another bomb went off near the entrance to the Rizhskaya station, in northern Moscow, in August.
During deliberations at the Moscow City Court, a prosecutor said the crimes are punishable by death, but, given Russia's current moratorium on the death penalty, life imprisonment should be opted for instead.
Murat Shavayev, Tamby Khubiyev and Maxim Panaryin, suspected of involvement in both attacks, are facing charges of terrorism, murder, affiliation with a criminal group, illegal possession of arms, and the making of an explosive device. One of the co-defendants, Shavayev, continues to maintain his innocence, but the two others have partially admitted to their guilt.
Court spokesman Anna Usacheva said the case is being considered by a judge without a professional panel or a jury, in keeping with the defendants' request.
A lawyer representing survivors and relatives of the victims, Igor Trunov, supported the prosecutor's request for life sentences, and asked that the court have the defendants pay 36,200,000 rubles ($1.37 million) in damages on 12 claims.
They are also suspected of involvement in a series of terrorist attacks at bus stops in the southwestern city of Voronezh and in Krasnodar, in Russia's south.
