The Vygonichsky District Court of the Bryansk Region sentenced three years in a general regime colony to a local resident in the case of “preparing to incite a serviceman to voluntarily surrender,” the court’s press service told Mediazona.
As follows from cards on the website, the court considered the case of 39-year-old Vladimir Erofeev during one hearing. According to lawyer Maxim Mogilevtsev, his client admitted guilt.
The court press service announced the arrest of a resident of the Bryansk region at the end of April. Initially, he was accused of incitement to voluntary surrender, however, later the charge was reclassified to preparation of incitement to voluntary surrender.
According to investigators, at the end of May 2023, a resident of the Bryansk region “maintained SMS correspondence” with a serviceman who was participating in the invasion of Ukraine. The investigator considered that “through persuasion and persuasion” the defendant in the case “persuaded” the military man to voluntarily surrender to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In May 2023, the Rtishchevsky District Court of the Saratov Region sentenced local resident Ilya Usoyan to three and a half years in a general regime colony on charges of «preparation of the organization of voluntary surrender». According to investigators, in 2023, Usoyan tried to persuade his friend, who had gone to war in Ukraine, to surrender.
In February, the Novgorod Regional Court received the case of builder Pyotr Opalnik, who was born in the Vinnitsa region of Ukraine and moved to Russia. According to the FSB, Opalnik worked for Ukrainian intelligence and persuaded those mobilized “to treason” and voluntary surrender. According to Mediazona, this case was the first criminal case brought to court under Article 352.1 of the Criminal Code — it was introduced immediately after the announcement of “partial mobilization” in September 2022.