Russian authorities sentence a soldier for an incident in Syria
On Friday, Kommersant newspaper reported on the first sentence given to a soldier of the Russian army who had participated in the military operation in Syria, citing a source closely involved in the legal proceedings. According to the publication, this concerns the military contractor, private Artem Hilko, who was charged with losing an automatic weapon.
According to the publication, the sentence was given by the Moscow Military District Court, but the legal proceedings were closed to the press. Hilko was accused according to Article 348 of the Russian Criminal Code (violation of the rules regarding the care of weapons, ammunition or military equipment entrusted for use in service, if their loss was due to negligence).
As the article indicates, the maximum punishment according to this article is two years of imprisonment, the least is a fine of 80,000 rubles. During the legal proceedings, Hilko confessed his guilt. The state prosecution requested that the defendant be fined 50,000 rubles. Taking into account the fact that the soldier is a first time offender, spoken of positively by his unit commanders, and has participated in military action, the court decided to fine him the minimum amount, the source specified. Additionally, Hilko will be allowed to continue serving in the armed forces.
According to Kommersant’s sources, Hilko and other military personnel of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Tamanskaya Division received cargo arriving at the Naval base in Tartus, and then delivered it to its recipients . While involved in loading work, private Hilko put his automatic weapon on board the Ural truck and forgot to take it off. The weapon was lost on the way.
According to the source, the officials conducting the investigation looked into the case extremely meticulously. As a result, the possibility of the weapon being sold was completely ruled out.