Putin introduced criminal punishment for volunteers for crimes against service

Criminal liability will be introduced against volunteers in case they commit crimes against military service. The decree on this was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 28, the document was published on the official Internet portal of legal information.

The crimes, in particular, include disobeying orders, resisting the superior or forcing him to violate the duties of military service. Desertion, damaging or destroying military property, voluntary surrender and others are also punishable by criminal liability.

The new law, which amends Article 7 of the Federal Constitutional Law "On Military Courts of the Russian Federation", adds volunteers to all lists of types of military personnel whose cases should be considered in a military court.

The document also stipulates that the chief of a volunteer formation means a person who is vested with organizational and administrative functions in relation to a volunteer. And military service (fulfillment of military service duties) is defined as "the fulfillment of the specified citizen's duties under the contract on staying in a volunteer formation".

Probation: those accused of disrupting a military construction site sentenced to five years in prison

One of the defendants did not appear at the announcement of the verdict and will be declared wanted

Earlier, on December 24, the head of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC) Valery Fadeyev pointed out that it is necessary to supervise the pardoned participants of the special military operation (SMO), who were previously prosecuted for crimes, including murder. In his opinion, this decision will help prevent possible relapses of crimes.

Prior to that, on November 23, Putin signed a law allowing some participants of the special operation to write off overdue loans of up to 10 million rubles, for which a judicial act on debt collection came into force before December 1, 2024 and additional proceedings were initiated. The right to recovery have mobilized fighters, conscripts (except for cadets of military schools and universities), volunteers who have concluded a contract on service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from December 1, 2024 for at least a year, and spouses of such military men. The Council of Federation approved this law at the plenary session on November 20.