Two of the mobilized received three years in prison for refusing to comply with the order

The Kursk Garrison Military Court sentenced servicemen Yury Degtyarev and Alexei Selivanov to three years in prison for disobeying the commander’s order to participate in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. “Kommersant” writes about this with reference to the materials of the criminal case.

Their case was called indicative after the introduction of a new article on non-fulfilment of a commander’s order during an armed conflict.

According to the card on the court’s website, the verdict was handed down on December 22, 2022. The district court, having considered the complaint, did not soften the sentence. Despite the fact that, as follows from the case materials, both servicemen “admitted their guilt and repented, and also wish to continue their military service and participate in a special military operation” (this is how the Russian authorities call the war against Ukraine).

Yury Degtyarev and Aleksey Selivanov were called up for military service at the end of September after the announcement of partial mobilization. In October, Degtyarev participated in military operations, but after that he was returned to a military unit in the Belgorod Region. In November, he and Selivanov, while in the barracks, did not comply with the order of the unit commander to receive means of individual armor protection and weapons for sending to the combat zone. They initially refused orally, and then submitted reports, Kommersant writes.

After that, Degtyarev and Selivanov were detained at the parking lot during construction. Both mobilized were handcuffed, and one of them was led in front of the formation in a head down position. Video of their detention was distributed by Telegram channels.

The authors of the posts with a note called what was happening “demonstrational detention” in the first criminal case under the new article, which provides for up to three years of imprisonment for the refusal of servicemen to obey the orders of the commander during an armed conflict.

Articles on toughening punishment for military personnel during wartime and during the period of mobilization were introduced into the Criminal Code in September, the day before the announcement of mobilization.