A soldier from Mozdok received a prison sentence for evading military service.

A court in Kabardino-Balkaria sentenced Murad Khutiev to a prison term, finding him guilty of leaving his unit without permission during mobilization.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on September 24, 2022, Parts 2.1, 3.1, and 5 of Article 337, concerning leaving a unit or place of service without permission during mobilization, were amended to the Russian Criminal Code. The amendments provide for imprisonment for up to 10 years. Tighter legislation following the announcement of mobilization led to harsher sentences for absence from a military unit or desertion.

A serviceman named Khutiev was found guilty under Part 5 of Article 337 of the Russian Criminal Code (unauthorized abandonment of a unit or place of service for more than a month during mobilization; carries a sentence of five to 10 years in prison), the Nalchik Garrison Military Court reported on its VKontakte page.

He spent his time at his own discretion at his place of residence.

According to the court, Khutiev "failed to report to his military unit without good reason on May 15, 2025, during the mobilization period." "On August 1, 2025, Khutiev was found in the city of Mozdok in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania by a police officer searching for him for evading military service. From May 15 to August 1, 2025, he spent time at his own discretion at his place of residence," the publication states.

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Khutiyev pleaded guilty in court. "At the same time, when sentencing, the court took into account the factual circumstances of the case related to the period of Khutiev's evasion of military service, the nature and degree of public danger posed by the defendant's actions, which constituted a serious crime against military service," the court stated.

Furthermore, by the August 6 verdict of the Vladikavkaz Garrison Military Court, Khutiev had already been sentenced to six years' imprisonment "for serious crimes committed during his military service," the court noted.

"Since Khutiev committed the crime in this criminal case before August 6, 2025, the court imposed the final sentence based on the cumulative nature of the crimes. Thus, by partially adding together the sentences imposed, Khutiev was sentenced to a final sentence of seven years' imprisonment in a general regime penal colony," the publication stated.

The court's press service did not provide the name of the convicted person. According to the case file on the court's website, updated on November 15, the defendant is Murad Khutiev. The case was received by the court on November 5, and a verdict was rendered at the first hearing.

As a reminder, on September 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization. On October 28 of that year, the Minister of Defense reported to the president on its completion, but no corresponding decree followed. Lawyers concluded that a presidential decree is not required to complete partial mobilization, Putin's press secretary explained.

Moreover, on December 12, 2023, the Maykop military court, in its verdict against a mobilized soldier who left his unit in June 2023, emphasized that "partial mobilization was declared in the Russian Federation, which was not completed at the time the crime was committed."