A soldier was convicted in Nalchik for going AWOL.

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The Nalchik Garrison Military Court sentenced serviceman Beslan Mestayev to five years in prison for leaving his military unit stationed in Ingushetia without permission and being absent for almost a year.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, on September 24, 2022, Parts 2.1, 3.1, and 5 of Article 337, concerning unauthorized abandonment of a unit or place of service during mobilization, were introduced into 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.

The Nalchik Garrison Military Court sentenced serviceman Mestayev, finding him guilty of committing a crime under Part 5 of Article 337 of the Russian Criminal Code, the court's press service reported on its VKontakte page on March 20.

According to investigators, Mestayev left his military unit stationed in the village of Troitskaya in the Sunzhensky District of Ingushetia without authorization on July 17, 2024, during mobilization. He reported voluntarily to his unit only on July 2, 2025, meaning he spent almost a year "spending time at his own discretion at his place of residence."

Mestayev pleaded guilty in court, and the court sentenced him to five years' imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. He was taken into custody in the courtroom and placed in a pretrial detention facility.

The case file on the court's website indicates that Beslan Mestayev's criminal case was submitted for consideration on March 10 of this year.

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 have concluded that a presidential decree is not needed to end partial mobilization, Putin's press secretary explained.

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