A serviceman was convicted in Nalchik for evading military service.

A military court in Nalchik sentenced serviceman Georgy Gurtsiev, detained in Kabardino-Balkaria after six months of absence from his unit, to a prison term in a penal colony.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on September 24, 2022, Parts 2.1, 3.1, and 5 of Article 337, concerning unauthorized abandonment of a unit or place of service during mobilization, were introduced into the Russian Criminal Code. The amendments provide for imprisonment for up to 10 years. Tighter legislation following the announcement of mobilization led to harsher sentences for absence from a military unit or desertion.

The Nalchik Garrison Military Court sentenced Georgy Gurtsyev, accused of evading service during mobilization (Part 5 of Article 337 of the Russian Criminal Code carries a sentence of five to 10 years in prison).

The court found that Gurtsyev, who was serving in Naro-Fominsk, Moscow Region, failed to report to his unit "during mobilization" on July 15, 2025, without good reason. On January 19, police detained him at a federal checkpoint in the Zolsky District of Kabardino-Balkaria.

For six months, from July 15 to January 19, Gurtsyev "spended his time at his own discretion at his place of residence," the military court's press service reported.

In court, the serviceman fully admitted his guilt. The court took into account that Gurtsyev expressed regret for his actions and sentenced him to the minimum sentence stipulated by the article - five years in a general regime penal colony.

The convicted man was taken into custody in the courtroom and placed in a pre-trial detention facility, the report noted. Georgy Gurtsyev's case was received by the court on March 11 and was heard in a single session on March 19. The verdict was handed down at the same session, according to the case file on the court's website.

As a reminder, on September 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization. On October 28 of that year, the Minister of Defense reported to the president on its completion, but no corresponding decree followed. Lawyers have concluded that a presidential decree is not needed to end partial mobilization, Putin's press secretary explained.

Moreover, on December 12, 2023, the military court in Maykop, in its verdict against a mobilized soldier who left his unit in June 2023, emphasized that "a partial mobilization was declared in the Russian Federation, which was not completed at the time the crime was committed, .".