A military court in Russia has sentenced a soldier accused of deserting his military unit to avoid fighting in Ukraine to 13 years in a penal colony.

Maxim Kochetkov did not report to his unit on May 10 “in order not to fulfill his military obligations”, “to avoid being sent to the zone of special military operations (in Ukraine)” and “because of laziness”.

After deserting his unit in Sakhalin, he remained in the area for two months before being captured on 9 July.

In a statement released today, the military court of the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on the island of Sakhalin in the Russian Far East, notes that the accused found guilty of desertion as it was “conscription period”.

Kochetkov was sentenced to 9 years in prison for desertion, but his sentence was increased to 13 years because of his previous suspended sentence in February for leaving his unit without permission.

In September 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered conscription following Moscow’s difficulties on the Ukrainian front, prompting the departure of hundreds of thousands of men who feared conscription.

Since spring, to avoid unrest among the population, the Russian army has launched a campaign of recruitment on a voluntary basis, promising attractive salaries and social benefits to those who go to the front.