Courts write off debts of prisoners recruited by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Bailiffs in Russia began to completely write off the debts of unpaid loans, state duties and civil claims of former prisoners from the “Storm Z” unit fighting in Ukraine. This was reported by “Vyorstka” with reference to data from the files of the Federal Service of Bailiffs (FSSP).

Debts to military personnel who entered into a contract with the Ministry of Defense are written off despite the fact that the debtors have sources of income, and there are no laws obliging to write off such debts. For example, in Kemerovo, the bailiff terminated enforcement proceedings for a credit debt in the amount of 9,200 rubles against Vladyslav Kanyus.

In 2020, he killed Vera Pekhteleva and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. In the summer of 2023, Pekhteleva’s parents received a photo of Kanyus in military uniform and assumed that he had gone to PMC “Wagner”. However, he probably concluded a contract with the Ministry of Defense – “Wagnerov” do not write off their debts.

In Tambov, bailiff Natalya Pankova terminated 11 proceedings against Pavel Alekhin at once.

At the end of 2022, he was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the robbery and murder of a 91-year-old pensioner. In the colony, he almost immediately signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and went to fight as part of the “Storm Z” unit. Six months later, he appeared on the broadcast of the propaganda program “Solovyev Live”.

Despite the pardon in the criminal case, according to the law, Alekhin still had to pay compensation for the moral damage of the friend of the pensioner he killed in the amount of 321 thousand rubles. The military man also had debts in microfinance organizations – the total amount of debts written off from him amounted to 639 thousand rubles

In his decision, the bailiff referred to the impossibility of finding the debtor’s income and property, despite the fact that he receives payments for participation in the war.

A similar situation occurred in Lipetsk. Oleg Batishchev, a member of “Storm Z”, who also appeared in Solovyov’s program, was written off the debt due to court fees. The bailiff also wrote in the decision that she could not find Batishchev’s property or income. He was convicted of murder in September 2022, he spent less than six months in prison.

There are no laws obliging or even allowing debt write-offs from military personnel due to participation in the war against Ukraine. Current legislation allows the temporary suspension of executive proceedings.

However, after the Ministry of Defense began recruiting prisoners instead of PMC “Wagner”, the former head of the Serpukhov district of the Moscow region, Alexander Shestun, who is serving a sentence in a colony on charges of fraud, said that during the recruitment, representatives of the department promise to write off all debts, except alimony.

In the fall of 2022, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed a law that allows the write-off of loan debts in the event of the death of a participant in a “special military operation” or the occurrence of Group I disability as a result of hostilities.

The “Storm Z” unit was formed in February 2023, and it was recruited in the colonies. The concluded contracts are received on the same terms as ordinary contractors.