Five-year sentence for a Russian soldier who refused to combat in Ukraine

On Thursday, officials reported that a Russian court sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine.

The soldier did not report for duty in May 2022 because he “did not wish to participate in a special military operation,” according to the Bashkortostan news office in the southern Urals.

In September, law authorities located Marsel Kandarov, according to the statement.

Separately, a military court condemned Kandarov to five years in prison for dodging military service for more than a month during mobilization.

Late in September, Russia announced the mobilization of 300,000 men to bolster Russian troops on the ground in Ukraine.

The news prompted a mass flight of men from Russia, with many fleeing to Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, among others.

According to critics, before being sent to the front, the majority of troops who were mobilized lacked combat experience and had inadequate training.

The Russian state news service TASS reported on Wednesday that a military court in Moscow sentenced a soldier to five years and six months in a prison colony for “beating” a commander during an altercation.

According to TASS, the soldier expressed “discontent” with the training of mobilized personnel outside of Moscow.

During his speech, he puffed cigarette smoke into an officer’s face, prompting the officer to push him away. After that, the private pushed the officer in the chest.

An internet video of the event shows the soldier complaining about substandard training, using profanity, and referring to the drills as “imitation.”