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Russia Moves to Prosecute Soldiers for Surrendering in New Criminal Case
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![Ivan_khomenko]( "Ivan Khomenko")
-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Ivan Khomenko")
Russian prosecutors have requested a 16-year prison sentence for Roman Ivanishin, a soldier who was captured by Ukrainian forces in 2023. This marks the first known criminal case in Russia based on a newly introduced law penalizing voluntary surrender during wartime.
According to reports by Russian media The Insider on April 11, the trial is taking place in the South Sakhalin Garrison Military Court. Ivanishin faces charges of voluntary surrender, attempted surrender, and desertion under articles 352.1, 30(1), and 338(3) of the Russian Criminal Code.
Ivanishin, who previously worked as a mining foreman on Sakhalin Island and had prior combat experience from the Chechen wars, was mobilized shortly after Russia’s partial mobilization decree in 2022. He was captured by Ukrainian forces on June 10, 2023, in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk region.
In early January 2024, Ivanishin was returned to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange involving 248 Russian servicemen. Following his return, he was immediately detained by Russian authorities.
The prosecution’s case relies heavily on testimony from Major Vadim Korotkevich, who released a video in June 2024 claiming that Ivanishin, while in Ukrainian captivity, had exited Ukrainian positions unarmed on multiple occasions to encourage fellow Russian soldiers to surrender.
Korotkevich stated that he had ordered artillery to fire on Ivanishin. The resulting exchange of fire reportedly led to the deaths of two Russian soldiers.
Russian legal analysts have noted that the new legislation effectively makes any form of capture a punishable offense. Under Russian military statutes, service members are required to resist capture at all costs—even when isolated or surrounded.
Legal experts point out that the law defines surrender as any action—or inaction—that leads to falling under enemy control. If an attempted surrender fails due to circumstances beyond the soldier’s control, it is still treated as a criminal offense.
Furthermore, if a captured soldier shares any information with opposing forces, Russian law may treat this as treason, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.
Ivanishin’s case could set a precedent in the enforcement of Russia’s wartime legal framework, which increasingly targets not only desertion but also any form of capitulation.
Earlier, on March 26, Russian authorities sentenced Serhii Potynh, an engineer at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, to 19 years in a high-security prison on terrorism charges. According to Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov, the charges were fabricated and stem from Potynh’s pro-Ukrainian stance. He had been held in Russian custody since June 2023.
