Russian Soldier Jailed After Trying To Frame Ukraine for Murder of Comrade

A Russian soldier has been jailed after initially attempting to pass the blame for the murder of his comrade onto Ukrainian troops.

A court in Russia's Rostov region on Wednesday handed Ivan Alekseev an eight-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a fellow soldier in January. He was mobilized to fight in Ukraine in October 2022, Russian news outlet Kommersant reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "partial mobilization" of the population in the fall of 2022. Russia's Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, said at the time that Russia would be targeting 300,000 reservists and ex-military personnel with "certain military specialties and relevant experience."

Alekseev was drafted as part of that mobilization order, and served as a sniper in Ukraine's Luhansk region.

According to court papers, on January 13, Alekseev was drinking vodka with a small group of fellow soldiers in a dugout when a conflict broke out over how loud he was speaking.

One soldier hit Alekseev on the head with his fist, prompting two other soldiers to break up their fight.

The situation got heated when the two soldiers who had attempted to resolve the conflict went to sleep. According to the defendant, when he and the soldier who first hit him were alone, he again physically attacked and attempted to shoot him with an AK-47 sniper rifle.

Alekseev said he reacted by shooting his comrade in the head, and shortly later, he stabbed him in the throat.

The court found that Alekseev, after killing his fellow soldier, attempted to fabricate his abduction and murder by Ukrainian "saboteurs." He dragged the body some 20 meters away from the dugout and stuck a knife into his body several times to make it appear that he had been killed by Ukrainian soldiers.

According to Kommersant, Alekseev faced a 15-year prison sentence, but was sentenced to eight years in a strict-regime colony. The court took into account the fact that Alekseev had pleaded guilty, as well as his participation in the war in Ukraine and several of his military merits.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign and Defense Ministries via email for comment.

The court also ruled that Alekseev's sniper rifle would be returned to the military in partially occupied Luhansk. The region has been effectively controlled by Russia since Putin's initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

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