The Samara Garrison Military Court has received a criminal case against 37-year-old serviceman Vladimir Kochetkov, who is accused of disrupting the work of a polling station during the presidential election. The case file was found on the court’s website by Mediazona.
Kochetkov is charged with obstructing the exercise of electoral rights by a group of persons by prior conspiracy (clause “c”, part 2 of Article 141 of the Criminal Code). This is the first known case when a Russian serviceman becomes accused under this article.
As the press service of the court clarified, the case has been registered and transferred to the judge. The serviceman himself is at large on his own recognizance.
The Astra Telegram channel claimed that contract soldier Vladimir Kochetkov was detained on March 16 in Samara at the polling station at school No. 178 on Cheremshanskaya Street, the corporal came there in military uniform. According to the source of the telegram channel, Kochetkov threw a Molotov cocktail at the wall, but no fire occurred and no one was injured.
The press service of the Samara Garrison Military Court confirmed to Mediazone that this was indeed a case during the presidential elections, but could not tell what exactly was the reason for initiating a criminal case. Neither Vladimir Kochetkov nor his parents responded to calls from the Mediazona correspondent.
The presidential elections in Russia were accompanied by attacks on polling stations and attempts to spoil ballots. According to Mediazona’s calculations, over the three election days, more than 40 similar cases occurred in 29 regions. The detainees said that they were pushed into the attacks by telephone scammers.