The Zaozersky garrison military court in the Murmansk region sentenced senior lieutenant Dmitry Vasilts to two years and five months in a colony settlement, who refused to return to the war, Mediazona reports with reference to lawyer Elvira Tarasova.

According to the lawyer, the court found the military man guilty under the article on non-execution of an order during hostilities, which provides for up to three years in prison. The Military Ombudsman telegram channel clarifies that the prosecution requested the maximum punishment for the military.

According to Mediazona, Vasilets was sent to war in Ukraine in February 2022. Five months later, he was given a vacation, during which he went to Buryatia to visit the relatives of a deceased colleague and later "adopted the philosophy of Buddhism." After that, the authorities told him to go to the front again, but he refused to do this because of his convictions.

The media also clarifies that Vasilets became the first known defendant in the case of non-execution of the order after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine.