The serviceman was convicted in Nalchik for desertion.

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The Nalchik garrison military court sentenced serviceman Amir Kostoев to five years in a penal colony, finding him guilty of desertion.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on September 24, 2022, parts 2.1, 3.1, and 5 of Article 337 on desertion or leaving a place of service during mobilization were introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The amendments provide for imprisonment for up to 10 years. The tightening of legislation after the announcement of mobilization led to harsher sentences for absence from military units or desertion.

The Nalchik garrison military court issued a verdict against a serviceman with the last name Kostoев, finding him guilty of committing a crime under part 5 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to a message published on August 7 in the court's group on the social network "VKontakte".

The court established that Kostoев did not report for duty at the temporary deployment point of the military unit on March 17. On June 1, he voluntarily arrived at the military investigative department in the village of Troitskaya in the Sunzhensky district of the Republic of Ingushetia.

In court, he confessed and expressed regret for his actions. The court sentenced him to five years of imprisonment to be served in a general regime colony.

The case file on Amir Kostoев is noted on the court's website to have been submitted for consideration on July 27.

Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization on September 21, 2022. On October 28 of the same year, the Minister of Defense reported to the president about its completion, but no corresponding decree followed. Lawyers concluded that a presidential decree is not needed to complete partial mobilization, explained Putin's press secretary. At the same time, on December 12, 2023, a military court in Maykop emphasized in the verdict for a mobilized individual who left the unit in June 2023 that "partial mobilization has been declared in the Russian Federation, which was not completed at the time the crime was committed".

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