A Russian soldier has actually been imprisoned for 15 years after he deserted the military and willingly gave up to Ukraine.
In what is a Russian military court’s very first such prosecution, the criminal offense of voluntary surrender, which is punishable by in between 3 and ten years in jail, was initially presented in September 2022.
According to the Kommersant paper, a court on the far eastern Russian island of Sakhalin discovered soldier Roman Ivanishin guilty of voluntary surrender, of trying to willingly give up, and of desertion.
Ivanishin, who was reported to have actually rejected all the charges, will serve his sentence in an optimal security center. Regional media reported that his trial was held behind closed doors.
The paper reported that Ivanishin, a miner on Sakhalin in civilian life whom regional media referred to as a veteran of Russia’s wars in Chechnya, was mobilised in 2022 and combated in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk area.
He was recorded by Ukrainian soldiers in June 2023 and, in a video released on the web, was revealed knocking Russia’s military project in Ukraine and getting in touch with other soldiers to desert.
It was unclear from the report in Kommersant whether he had actually been speaking under pressure in the video. His defence group was reported to have actually sought his acquittal, stating there was no proof he had actually devoted any criminal offense.
Ivanishin was gone back to Russia in a detainee exchange in January 2024 and was positioned under examination, Kommersant stated.
The sentencing follows Ukrainian forces recorded 2 Chinese nationals who were defending the Russian army in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk area.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has actually stated intelligence recommended the variety of Chinese soldiers in Russia’s army was “much greater than 2”. At a current press confernece, he has actually implicated Moscow of dragging Beijing into its intrusion and said that a number of hundred Chinese nationals were battling at the frontline.
The Kremlin has actually rejected the claims made by President Zelensky, while Beijing has actually alerted celebrations to the dispute versus making “reckless remarks”.