A former military police chief was sentenced to 11 years in Nalchik.

A military court in Nalchik sentenced Major Vladimir Puzenko to a lengthy prison term for falsifying the "heroic deeds" and combat wounds of servicemen to obtain state awards.

The Nalchik Garrison Military Court heard the case of Major Vladimir Puzenko, Chief of Military Police and a member of the Russian Ministry of Defense, in a single hearing. It was received on November 17, and the verdict was handed down today.

Puzenko was accused of two counts of illegal arms trafficking and fraud. The court found that in December 2023, he falsified evidence of the "heroic deeds" of a group of servicemen, who were subsequently unjustifiably nominated for state awards and illegally received monetary compensation. Investigators are considering these servicemen "members of a criminal group," the court's press service reported.

From December 2023 to May 2024, Puzenko repeatedly assisted service members who had committed self-harm in registering their injuries as combat wounds and receiving compensation for their actions. The total damages caused to the state exceed 210 million rubles, according to a publication on the court's official VKontakte page.

The charges of illegal weapons trafficking stem from Puzenko's acquisition of a Maxim 1910 heavy machine gun in a combat zone. After discovering the machine gun near combat positions, Puzenko appropriated it, transported it, and illegally stored it for some time, before gifting it to another person. The court ruled that the appropriation and storage of the weapon constituted illegal trafficking, while the gift constituted sale.

Vladimir Puzenko was sentenced to 11 years in a general regime penal colony and stripped of his military rank of major and state awards – the Order of Courage and the medals "For Bravery" and "For the Rescue of the Perishing." He was also ordered to pay the Ministry of Defense over 207 million rubles in compensation for damages.