Román Ivánishin has just made history in Russia, although I would surely have preferred to avoid it. Russian Military Justice has sentenced 15 years in prison for voluntarily deserting and surrendering to the Ukrainian forces during the fighting in the Donetsk region, according to Kommersant. In addition, the Military Court of southern Sajalín, at the Russian eastern end, has stripped him of his military rank.
Ivánishin, 39 and sergeant of the 39th Motorized Brigade of the Russian Army, fell prisoner in June 2023. Shortly after, he appeared in a video broadcast by Ukrainian soldiers where he criticized without hair on the tongue the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin, encouraging other Russian military to defect.
He returned to Russia in January 2024 along with another 247 captured soldiers, in an organized exchange thanks to the mediation of United Arab Emirates. As soon as Russian soil stepped on, instead of a welcome, he was waiting for an immediate arrest.
The trial, held behind closed doors, has ended with Ivánishin denying all the positions while his lawyer asked for indulgence claiming his previous health and military health problems. However, the Prosecutor’s Office was relentless, demanding an even greater penalty: 16 years in jail.
The crime for which he has been convicted, “voluntary surrender”, entered the Russian Criminal Code in September 2022, just after Putin announced a controversial partial mobilization that caused the massive escape of hundreds of thousands of Russians.
Ivánishin’s acquaintances have described their stay in Ukraine to the independent environment as “an authentic hell.” They assure that the sergeant “was going to the forced war” and never thought of “such a brutal panorama.” Now, Ivánishin will have to spend the next 15 years in a maximum security prison.
