The Chelyabinsk garrison military court sentenced contract soldier Alexei Kirginekov to 5 years and 1 month in a general regime colony, who did not return to the unit after the start of mobilization, according to the court's website.
On December 16, Judge Igor Rasskazov found the serviceman guilty in the case of unauthorized abandonment of a unit lasting more than one month during the period of mobilization (part 5 of article 337 of the Criminal Code). In addition to imprisonment, Kirginekov received a fine of 15 thousand rubles.
The court clarified that the private left the unit in Chelyabinsk on August 22. Later, he, «reliably knowing» about the announced mobilization, «continued to be out of military service, did not take measures to return to the military unit or military authorities.»
The press service added that Kirginekov was discovered on September 26 in Chelyabinsk, military police officers and taken to the commandant's office.
Previously, Mediazona studieddecisions of the Russian garrison military courts from January to early December 2020 — during this time, the courts received 948 cases of unauthorized abandonment of the unit. Against the backdrop of the war, there are more cases than last year, a particularly noticeable increase begins in the summer. As a rule, the defendants are given suspended sentences or fines, withholding part of the salary. Real life sentences are extremely rare.
At the same time, the first cases of leaving the place of service “during the period of mobilization or martial law, in wartime or in conditions of armed conflict or combat operations” (337 UK), Mediazona found 39 such cases in 21 regions of Russia. 19 people are on trial for the most difficult part 5 — it involves up to 10 years in prison.
In two cases, convictions were already delivered in early December. In the first case, Danila Ivanov, a soldier from Veliky Novgorod, received 5 years of probation due to leaving his place of service for more than a month, and Solnechnogorsk Alexei Sozonov was given 4 years of probation.
The word of the year is five hundredths. How soldiers who do not want to fight in Ukraine are tried for AWOL