A Russian soldier has been jailed for 15 years after he deserted the military and voluntarily surrendered to Ukraine.
In what is a Russian military court’s first such prosecution, the crime of voluntary surrender, which is punishable by between three and 10 years in prison, was first introduced in September 2022.
According to the Kommersant newspaper, a court on the far eastern Russian island of Sakhalin found soldier Roman Ivanishin guilty of voluntary surrender, of attempting to voluntarily surrender, and of desertion.
Ivanishin, who was reported to have denied all the charges, will serve his sentence in a maximum security facility. Local media reported that his trial was held behind closed doors.
The newspaper reported that Ivanishin, a miner on Sakhalin in civilian life whom local media described as a veteran of Russia's wars in Chechnya, was mobilised in 2022 and fought in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
He was captured by Ukrainian soldiers in June 2023 and, in a video published on the internet, was shown denouncing Russia's military campaign in Ukraine and calling on other soldiers to desert.
It was not clear from the report in Kommersant whether he had been speaking under duress in the video. His defence team was reported to have sought his acquittal, saying there was no evidence he had committed any crime.
Ivanishin was returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange in January 2024 and was placed under investigation, Kommersant said.
The sentencing comes after Ukrainian forces captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting for the Russian army in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said intelligence suggested the number of Chinese soldiers in Russia's army was "much higher than two". At a recent press confernece, he has accused Moscow of dragging Beijing into its invasion and remarked that several hundred Chinese nationals were fighting at the frontline.
The Kremlin has denied the claims made by President Zelensky, while Beijing has warned parties to the conflict against making “irresponsible remarks”.
