Soldier Popov confessed that he was not in slavery in Dagestan

The soldier from the Saratov Region Andrei Popov has admitted that he had been consciously evading his military service since 2000. Earlier, he claimed that he escaped from slavery at the brick factory in Dagestan after 11 years of captivity, said a source close to the investigation into the circumstances of the soldier's disappearance.

According to the available information, the soldier has abandoned the version, under which he had been kept in slavery for 11 years, and worked for food at the brick factory. "Popov gave a confession to investigators that all this time he had been hiding in Dagestan. Apparently, he hoped to escape punishment for desertion," said the source.

However, he added that not all the circumstances of Popov's case have been established, while a decision about his guilt may be made only by the court, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

Let us remind you that Lydia Sviridova, the chair of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers, is sure that Popov's story about slavery is the truth. In her version, Andrei "stepped on the tail of the Mafia", which is using slave labour; and now they want at any cost to isolate him from the society and send for examination to the Saratov mental hospital, the "Saratovnews" reports.