1/ Soldiers returning home to Russia after fighting in Ukraine are reportedly responsible for an increasing number of violent incidents, including fights and shootings. However, the Russian courts are being very lenient towards offenders, dismaying and frustrating civilians. ⬇️
2/ The independent Russian news outlet 'We can explain' ('MO') reports on what it calls 'special military operation syndrome' – the rising incidence of violence committed by returning soldiers. It's likely that many are suffering from untreated PTSD.
3/ Many incidents have been reported but have only resulted in light punishments from the courts, including:
4/ 🔴 "60,000 rubles ($803) for assaulting a member of the National Guard. The other day a Voronezh court passed a very mild sentence – a military man who hit and insulted a guardsman several times got away with a fine. The incident took place in a Voronezh hotel in September.
5/ The Russian Federal Guard Service was called by the staff, as the guest was behaving inappropriately. It came down to a fight, and the law enforcers made a concerted effort to get the troublemaker off.
6/ 🔴 In July 2022, a man threatened passers-by with a shotgun in Elektrostal, near Moscow. He said he had recently arrived from Ukraine and "they shot him there".
7/ 🔴 September 2022: In Tula, a military man beat up a pizzeria owner with a chair. The reason for the attack, according to the hooligan, was that he was not shown "enough respect" at the pizzeria.
8/ 🔴 In January 2023, a man in camouflage came with a Kalashnikov assault rifle to a nightclub and pointed the weapon at people standing on the stairs.
9/ 🔴 The loudest and most tragic event involving a serviceman returned from Ukraine took place in Kostroma. On November 5, Stanislav Ionkin, 23, who had been wounded, fired a flare gun at the Polygon nightclub (the incident was not captured on video).
10/ A fire broke out in the premises, killing 13 people."
MO notes that there have also been many incidents of weapons smuggling – Russia has strict gun control laws which returning soldiers have repeatedly violated.
11/ Since February 2022, it reports, "at least 42 Russian servicemen have been put on trial for misappropriation, storage, transportation and carrying of weapons, ammunition and explosive devices".
12/ There has also been a murder case: "in Udmurtia, according to investigators, in the course of a drinking bout in a garage, a comrade who had returned from the war shot his friend in the eye and then strangled him with a wire. The trial began on 9 February." /end
Source:
t.me/mozhemobyasnit…
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