An investigation by the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona, published on Tuesday, has revealed that Russian courts have heard 10,025 cases against servicemen charged with military crimes since early 2022.
By analyzing court data, Mediazona found that since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine in September 2022, Russian courts have processed 9,059 cases of soldiers going absent without leave, 627 cases of soldiers refusing to obey orders, and 339 cases of soldiers deserting.
These cases involve a total of 10,085 defendants, with 8,594 already sentenced.
Before the increase in penalties for military crimes, the Russian military rarely prosecuted its servicemen for such offenses, Mediazona reported.
Earlier this month, Mediazona and BBC News Russian reported that the Wagner Group, a mercenary organization, had recruited at least 48,366 prisoners since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The highest number of casualties among these mercenaries occurred during the 10-month-long battle for the town of Bakhmut, which began in August 2022.
The Wagner Group lost 19,500 servicemen in these battles, including 17,100 prisoners and 2,400 “free” mercenaries.
The journalists identified 341 penal colonies from which prisoners were recruited.
Approximately 33,000 prisoners came from 227 high-security prisons, with 21,000 of them surviving the battle for Bakhmut and returning to Russia.
