One of Vladimir Putin‘s terror soldiers – who was freed by Ukraine – has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Kremlin for voluntarily surrendering. Roman Ivanishin was found guilty on Tuesday on charges of desertion and accused of giving himself up to Kyiv’s forces, in a first of it’s kind case.
The soldier supposedly deserted the military and gave himself to troops voluntarily after he was captured on June 10, 2023, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant. Ivanishin has denied all charges put against him but the soldier was allegedly seen in a video, after he was captured, telling fellow soldiers to desert the army.
The doomed soldier had been deployed as part of the 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, but he spent six months in captivity after he was captured. He was then freed as part of a prisoner of war exchange with the Kremlin. Ivanishin may have thought he was heading back to Russia to live his life in freedom, but he was quickly arrested upon his return.
His legal team is seeking an acquittal for the former troop, claiming there was no evidence Ivanishin committed any crimes. This law was brought in by evil Putin in September 2022 – just months after his illegal invasion of Ukraine – and is punishable by three to 15 years in jail.
It is unclear what happened inside the courtroom, on the remote Sakhalin island in eastern Russia, as his case was held behind closed doors. It is also unclear whether the video Ivanishin appeared in was filmed by his own free will or when he was in captivity.
He also denounced Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the shocking video that circulated online.
Russian lawyer Alexander Pochuev said the law was flawed and that would make it virtually impossible for a solder to surrender “voluntarily”, according to the Kommersant.
The lawyer said: “You can only be captured against your will — for example, in an unconscious or helpless state. And the burden of proving these circumstances lies on the fighter himself.”
Despite the Kremlin’s threats of long and harsh prison sentences, some Russian troops have not been deterred from ditching the evil war they fought in. Putin was humiliated when his feared Chechen fighters surrendered to Ukraine in the Kursk region, in August 2024.
Footage caught the troops belonging to close Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov – the feared “strongman” leader of Chechnya – as they were taken away as PoWs.
The Chechen fighters were then seen surrendering to Ukrainian troops in the region they were sent to protect. Putin also faced another issue early on in the invasion when the number of Russians searching “how to surrender” online doubled in one month.
A new peak of 70,000-plus searches was set in December 2022, as thousands of ill-trained troops were sent to the frontline as “cannon fodder”.
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