Draftee who left his training unit for a bar sentenced to two years in prison

A military court has sentenced Vitaly Ryazanov, who was mobilized in the Lipetsk region, to two years in a penal colony-settlement (the least strict type of Russian prison), for unauthorized leave from a place of service for more than 10 days.

Ryazanov was sentenced on January 10, but media outlets have only now brought the case to light.

According to case materials, Ryazanov was mobilized on September 28. He was sent to training in Kovrov, in the Vladimir region.

Late in the evening on October 18, Ryazanov climbed the training center fence and went to a nearby cafe, allegedly to temporarily avoid his duties and relax. When that establishment closed, the draftee went to a bar called Slavyanka, where he “idled away his time” until he was arrested by military police.

One of Slavyanka’s employees said she first saw Ryazanov on October 21, with other men in military uniform. She says that the draftee stayed in the bar throughout her whole shift, and slept at a table at night. Other employees on her shift told her it wasn’t the first day he’d spent at the bar. Ryazanov apparently stayed in the bar, drinking, until October 30, when police took him away.