The Russian military illegally kidnapped Russian citizen in Armenia. The kidnapped person is Dmitry Setrakov, who fled the war in Ukraine.

Setrakov was mobilized on September 24, 2022. On April 22, 2023, he left the unit without permission and went into hiding.

On October 11, 2022, the man voluntarily turned himself in and was subsequently detained, being held in a military unit of the military police corps.

Following this, he reached out to the ‘Idite Lesom’ opposition project, and they helped him defect and leave the country in a more competent manner.

On November 30, he arrived in Yerevan, Armenia.

According to the human rights organization ‘Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor’, on December 6 or 7, 2023, Setrakov was detained by police officers of the 102nd military base in the city of Gyumri.

The man was transferred to the territory of a Russian military base. A criminal case was opened against him for unauthorized leaving the military unit.

“Unfortunately, we do not know why he went to Gyumri. All further information comes from his wife. He called her on December 7, he was given the opportunity to call through a speakerphone. He said that he had been detained, that he was at a Russian military base,” the representatives of the ‘Idite Lesom’ opposition project said.

On December 7, he was approached by people who introduced themselves as the Armenian military police.

But when he ended up at a Russian military base, it was obvious that it was actually the Russian military or officers of the Russian special services.

This is the first such case. There have been cases when the Armenian police detained Russians who were wanted in Russia, but they were always released.

On the territory of Armenia, human freedom can be restricted only by the law enforcement agencies of the Republic, and the military police of the Russian Federation have no right to take such actions.

“In other words, it is actually a kidnapping of a person on the territory of another state,” human rights activists said.

So far, human rights activists have nothing to say, and they are trying to get some answers from the official Armenian authorities. But this is likely to happen no earlier than Monday.

At the Russian military base in Gyumri, the human rights activist confirmed the detention and added that “this is an order from Russian President Vladimir Putin to arrest all such defectors.”

The criminal case is being investigated by the Russian 519th Military Investigation Department, which is located in Armenia.

It is reported that after the sentencing, he may be returned to Russia to serve his sentence.

As previously reported, in August of this year, Russian army lieutenant Ivan Korolev illegally crossed the Lithuanian border, where he applied for political asylum.