Verdict to officer from North Ossetia for evading service upheld

The Court of Appeal (CoA) has upheld the verdict on Major Maxim Bespalov from North Ossetia, who was sentenced to five years and eight months in a penal colony on charges of leaving his military unit without permission.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 24, 2022, after the announcement of the partial mobilization, a part of the article on the unauthorized abandonment of a unit or place of service during the period of mobilization for a period of more than a month was introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It provides for five to ten years of freedom deprivation. On July 4, the Novorossiysk Military Court sentenced Alexander Shupletsov, a mobilized person, to six years in prison, finding him guilty under this part of the above article.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has upheld the verdict passed to Maxim Bespalov, who was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison on charges of leaving his unit without permission during the mobilization and the special military operation (SMO), the "Kavkaz.Realii"* project reports.

"In order to temporarily evade his military service and take a break from the performance of his official duties without good reason ... he failed to appear from his service trip to continue his service in his military unit," the court ruling says.

Despite the introduction of the partial mobilization, the defendant continued evading his military service until the day he appeared at the military commandant's office, says the verdict.

His defence has objected stating that the Major was on his service trip to the centre for receiving, treating and sending off dead bodies, where he "was in a depressed state" and "needed psychological help."

The above CoA has treated the defence's arguments as unconvincing.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.