Saratov man convicted for joining ‘illegal military formation,’ allegedly to fight for Ukraine
The regional court of Bryansk sentenced the 22-year-old Saratov resident Kirill Belousov to five years in a high-security penal colony, on charges of joining an illegal military formation.
According to the case materials, Belousov was planning to go to Ukraine and join the Freedom of Russia Legion. Following recruiter directions, he took a train to Bryansk, and then a bus to the Belaya Beryozka border settlement, where he was arrested.
The court press service claims that Belousov admitted his guilt, expressing remorse and asking the judge not to “punish him too harshly.”
Bryansk Regional Court has issued no fewer than five sentences in connection with the law against joining illegal armed formations. Each of the defendants got 5–7 years in prison. The court is now considering the case of Maxim Timerkhanov, charged with a felony under the same law.
In late December, it emerged that Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court had sentenced the 22-year-old Maxim Dmitriyenko to four years in prison, also on charges of joining an illegal armed formation, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The pattern of Russian courts issuing milder sentences under this article has not yet been explained.