Russian authorities on Wednesday announced they had killed a soldier who had left a military base, with state media identifying the man as an armed deserter from the war in Ukraine.
“Dmitry Perov, wanting to leave an illegal military unit, was found and disbanded,” the government of the Lipetsk region, in western Russia, said on social media.
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“The situation is under control,” he said. “There is no threat to residents. The investigation is ongoing.”
It does not say how this person was killed.
Run Ukraine with guns and grenades
The local branch of state television network VGTRK said the man was 31 years old and had fled a “special military operations zone” – Moscow’s term for attacks in Ukraine.
It published a search notice saying he had fled Ukraine on January 13 armed with a gun and grenades, and that he had made it to his home village.
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There have been several cases of desertions among Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine in recent months.
Kommersant newspaper reported Wednesday that eight soldiers who refused to fight in Ukraine have been charged with desertion.
The punishment is up to 10 years in prison
According to the newspaper, the soldiers had left the base in eastern Ukraine at the end of December and were able to return to Russia by taxi.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilization of 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine in September, he also passed a law on desertion, introducing penalties of up to 10 years in prison for deserting or refusing to fight.
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Thousands of Russians fled the country after the announcement of an unplanned mobilization.
Putin sent troops in February last year.