How do you force Russian conscripts into combat? Threaten them with deployment if they won’t steal for you, then threaten them with prison after they’ve been charged.

On January 30, 2026, a Russian military court issued the first sentence in a case involving theft from a classified Defense Ministry facility in the Leningrad region. Seven service members — four of them conscripts — were charged with hauling 4.6 tons of cable off the base, burning off the insulation to extract the copper, and selling it to a scrap dealer. Investigators estimated the losses at 11 million rubles (about $144,000). The conscripts and their families say officers coerced them into committing the crime by threatening to send them to fight in Ukraine. After charges were filed, investigators offered them another choice, according to sources: go to war or go to prison. The independent outlet Bumaga reported the story. Meduza summarizes the case.

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In the fall of 2025, federal authorities detained seven servicemen — four conscripts and three contract soldiers — and charged them with grand theft and embezzlement of Defense Ministry property. All served at the Leningrad Naval Base, which is headquartered in Kronstadt.

According to prosecutors, the soldiers burned off the insulation from cables stored at a command post in the Leningrad region, extracted the copper, and hauled it to a nearby scrap collection point every few days.

Investigators estimated that in more than 10 trips to a scrap facility in Sosnovy Bor, the soldiers hauled away 4.6 tons of copper and received about 3 million rubles (nearly $40,000). The Defense Ministry reported losses totaling nearly 11 million rubles from the theft.

Bumaga interviewed two of the conscripts and their relatives.

Vitaly Rusakov, 21, joined the army in November 2024. He previously worked as a beach lifeguard along the Baltic Sea in Russia’s Kaliningrad region. There, he rescued three people from drowning, including two children, according to his stepfather. The stepfather is currently fighting in Ukraine after volunteering for what he described as “ideological reasons.”

Journalists contacted another defendant by letter. He, too, lived in the Kaliningrad region before entering military service. The 21-year-old serviceman said he was conscripted immediately after graduating from college, where he studied computer programming. He said he has back problems but chose not to challenge the draft office in court.

Conscripts say they were pressured to sell the metal under threat of deployment to Ukraine

For the first six months, the conscripts “did odd jobs — painting, repairs, nothing interesting,” according to one defendant. The military then transferred them to a classified facility in the Leningrad region.

Vitaly Rusakov told investigators that in July 2025, Senior Lieutenant Alexander Korendyasov ordered him and three fellow service members to haul away the cables. According to Rusakov, the officer threatened to send the conscripts to Ukraine if they refused. Rusakov said the commander threatened to sign a contract on his behalf and pocket his combat pay. Another defendant described similar pressure from command staff and threats of deployment to the front.

Prosecutors also charged other senior officers besides Korendyasov, including Lieutenants Maxim Klychnikov and K. Shishkin, whose full name has not been released. Klychnikov served as an engineer overseeing measurement systems, while Shishkin was responsible for fire safety.

Vitaly’s stepfather says the conscripts handed over all the proceeds to Korendyasov. However, one of the defendants told Bumaga that “later, as things went on, we secretly decided to keep some of it for ourselves.”

Relatives say Vitaly remained withdrawn for months and was afraid to tell his family about the case. His stepfather said he believes the commander threatened the conscript with violence.

Facing prison, conscripts have again been offered service contracts — this time by investigators

The case is being heard behind closed doors. Sources who spoke with Bumaga said the Defense Ministry may be concealing information because the unit involved is classified.

Vitaly Rusakov pleaded guilty. His stepfather says the confession was beaten out of him. “My son was beaten at the base — he was scared, exhausted,” he told the human rights project Shkola Prizyvnika (Conscript’s School).

The court sentenced Vitaly to 18 months in prison and ordered all defendants to pay 10.5 million rubles ($137,500) in restitution to the Defense Ministry. Vitaly’s family does not plan to challenge the ruling, fearing an appellate judge could increase the sentence. The court will sentence the remaining six defendants in closed hearings before the end of February.

Vitaly’s stepfather says the conscripts are again being offered contracts to go to war — this time by investigators. “To put it simply, here’s why I’m against sending my son to the SVO [special military operation]: He would end up in an assault unit. Those men are sent straight into the worst of it — coming back alive is nearly impossible. For a young man who isn’t prepared for war and has basically never held a weapon, the odds of survival are zero. I have no desire to send my son to his death,” said the stepfather, who is himself now fighting in Ukraine.

In correspondence with Bumaga, another conscript in the case said he was bracing for the worst but questioned the idea of signing a contract instead of serving a prison sentence. One defendant said rumors within the military suggest that the scheme’s alleged organizer, Alexander Korendyasov, could be deployed to Ukraine. Journalists were unable to contact Korendyasov or his relatives.