Employees of the criminal investigation department of the linear police department of Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan on the night of July 15 detained 25-year-old Russian citizen Ivan Ch., according to the Armenian police website.
The Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Nizhny Novgorod Region previously put a young man on the wanted list in the case of unauthorized leaving of a unit for more than a month (Article 337 of the Criminal Code). In Russia, he was sent to a pre-trial detention center in absentia, the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The security forces “informed” the Russian side about the detention, the police added. No other details are provided.
This is not the first such detention in Armenia. In December 2023, mobilized Dmitry Setrakov was detained in Gyumri. At first he was held on the territory of a military base, and then sent to Russia.
In April of this year, security forces detained Anatoly Shchetinin, who refused to serve, in the same Armenia and, according to him, twice tried to take him to Russia, but the Armenian border guards did not allow this. In early May, Shchetinin, who was at a Russian military base in Armenia, agreed to help human rights activists.
In the spring of 2024, Russian military investigators detained 23-year-old Kamil Kasimov in Kazakhstan, who had entered into a contract with the Ministry of Defense. He fled in June 2023 to avoid participating in the war with Ukraine. In Russia, according to Kasimov’s brother and human rights activists, he was charged with desertion (Article 338 of the Criminal Code).
In addition to Ivan Ch., on June 13, 65-year-old teacher from the Moscow region Natalya Taranushenko was detained at Zvartnots airport. «(clause «e» of part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). After 4.5 hours, she was released with an obligation to appear — an analogue of the Russian undertaking not to leave.
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