Russian Federation begins trial for surrender

The Russian prosecutor’s office has requested 16 years in prison for a soldier who was taken prisoner by Ukraine. This is the first criminal case under the article on surrender.

This is reported by The Insider.

During a meeting of the South Sakhalin Garrison Military Court, the prosecution asked to sentence Russian soldier Roman Ivanishin to 16 years in prison under articles on voluntary surrender, attempted surrender and desertion (Article 352.1, Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 3 of Article 338 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The defense insists on his acquittal. As noted by ‘Novaya Gazeta in Europe’, this is the first criminal case for voluntary surrender.

Ivanyshyn worked as a mining foreman in Sakhalin, took part in the Chechen war, and was mobilized almost immediately after the start of mobilization as someone with combat experience.

On June 10, 2023, he was taken prisoner in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region. In early January 2024, Ivanyshyn was returned to Russia as part of a group of 248 Russian soldiers in a prisoner exchange, after which he was detained.

The main prosecution witness was Major Vadym Korotkevych. In June, he published a video in which he said that after Ivanyshyn’s surrender, he had left Ukrainian positions several times without weapons, having urged his fellow soldiers to follow his example.

According to the publication, Korotkevich ordered artillery to fire at Ivanyshyn. The Ukrainian military returned fire, killing two Russian soldiers.

Human rights activists note that, according to current legislation, it is virtually impossible for a Russian soldier to surrender legally.

According to them, even inaction will be the soldier’s fault. Moreover, it is up to the captured soldier to prove that he was not inactive. According to the Statute of Internal Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, a soldier during hostilities, even when separated from his military unit and completely surrounded, must resist the enemy with determination, avoiding capture.

“Surrender should be understood as various actions (inaction) that result in a serviceman falling into the power of the enemy. In cases where actions (inaction) aimed at surrender do not result in the transfer to the enemy for reasons beyond the person’s control, the act constitutes attempted surrender,” the lawyers explain.

If a captured soldier also tells a “secret” about his troops to the enemy, then from the point of view of Russian law, he is a traitor who faces up to 20 years or life imprisonment.

As a reminder, the Ukrainian Defense Forces recently captured citizens of the People’s Republic of China who fought on the side of the Russian occupation army.