IC: soldier enslaved in Dagestan pleads guilty of desertion

The Main Military Investigatory Department disseminated the information that the soldier Andrei Popov, who claimed that he had spent ten years in captivity in Dagestan, acknowledged the fact of his desertion and asked to consider his case in a particular order. However, Andrei Popov refutes this information.

"Under the pressure of the irrefutable evidence, Andrei Popov pleaded guilty in full of the incriminated act for the period from September 30, 2000, to December 25, 2010, and made a confession about how and where he had spent time outside the location of the military unit," the Main Military Investigatory Department (MMID) of the Investigatory Committee (IC) reports. "He served at the now-disbanded military unit in the village of Stepnoe of the Tatischevo District of the Saratov Region."

According to the MMID, when the defendant reviewed the case materials and consulted with his lawyer, he expressed his wish about his criminal case to be considered in a particular order.

According to the MMID's statement, Andrei Popov under assumed names repeatedly applied for a job informally in the Saratov Region and in Dagestan. The criminal case against him was brought to the military prosecutor for the confirmation of the indictment, and then the case would be brought to court.

In October, in accordance with the court's decision, Andrei Popov underwent mental examination and was found mentally healthy.

On October 31, Eugeny Bubnov, Deputy Chief of the IC's Military Investigatory Department of Saratov Garrison, reported that Andrei Popov was charged under Part 4 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (unauthorized leaving of service place lasting more than a month). He may face up to five years of imprisonment, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

Meanwhile, Andrei Popov himself refuted the investigators' statement that he had allegedly confessed to desertion.

"I wonder, since nobody has yet given me anything. I have not seen the indictment, and I have never signed a confession. They showed nothing to me and to my lawyer. We all stand on our heads," stated Andrei Popov. According to him, "the lawyer and the investigator do not know, from which source such information could appear," the "Interfax" reports.