The Russian officer will be tried under the article on violating the rules of combat duty, he was accused of not preventing rocket fire on the territory of the Belgorod region from Ukraine last spring. Writes about this “Kommersant”. According to the publication, the officer, who was arrested in May last year, faces up to ten years in prison for violating the rules of combat duty. His name is not called. He is the first defendant in Russia under this article.
According to Kommersant’s sources, the prosecution believes that the military man is guilty of insufficiently covering the airspace in the border zone with air defense systems. At the time of the missile strike, he was allegedly on combat duty. As a result of the missile attack, according to the materials of the investigation, seven Russian servicemen were killed, more than 40 were injured, and 15 pieces of equipment were destroyed.
According to investigators, “having every opportunity to prevent an attack,” the officer “allowed the infliction of serious damage to the country’s defense capability.” He himself does not admit guilt.
It is not clear when exactly the shelling referred to in the case took place; neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian side officially reported about it. The Ukrainian military traditionally does not comment on alleged shelling of Russian territory, and the Russian authorities, when reporting shelling, focus on damage to civilian infrastructure and injured civilians, if any.
- As the context suggests, the shelling – if it took place – was part of Ukraine’s defensive operations after Russia’s large-scale invasion on 24 February. How the officer on duty could have prevented it is not clear.
- In connection with the war in Ukraine, hundreds of cases have already been initiated in Russia on charges of desertion, leaving a unit during mobilization, and so on. It was not reported about the initiation of cases in connection with war crimes in Ukraine, of which Ukraine and international organizations suspect Russia of having committed Russia.
Source: svoboda
