A serviceman from Kabardino-Balkaria was convicted for a long absence from his unit

The court sentenced a serviceman from Kabardino-Balkaria to five years in prison, finding him guilty of unauthorized departure from a unit during mobilization.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, on September 24, 2022, parts 2.1, 3.1 and 5 of Article 337 on unauthorized abandonment of a unit or place of service during mobilization were introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The amendments provide for imprisonment for up to 10 years. The tightening of laws after the announcement of mobilization led to harsher sentences for absence from a military unit.

The serviceman was found guilty of committing a crime under Part 5 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation1, the press service of the Nalchik Garrison Military Court reported on its VKontakte page.

According to the court, the serviceman "left his place of service without good reason on August 20, 2024, during the mobilization period." On December 23, 2024, Gogov "arrived at the request of a police officer who was searching for him at the Baksansky MO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, and from August 20 to December 23, 2024, he evaded military service," the department reports.

The serviceman was sentenced to real imprisonment for a term of 5 years in a general regime penal colony, the court's publication says. The defendant's name was not mentioned in the publication. According to the case card on the court's website, the convicted person is Rakhim Aslanovich Gogov.

Recall that on September 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization. On October 28 of the same year, the Minister of Defense reported to the president on its completion, but no corresponding decree followed. Lawyers have concluded that a presidential decree is not needed to end partial mobilization, Putin's press secretary explained.

At the same time, on December 12, 2023, the military court in Maykop, having sentenced mobilized Vladimir Litenkov to five years in prison for leaving his unit without permission in June 2023, emphasized that "a partial mobilization has been declared in the Russian Federation, which was not completed at the time Litenkov committed the crime.