April 16, 2024

A Brick in AWOL


A Brick in AWOL
83rd Guards Air Assault Brigade's artillery exercise. 
  Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Wikimedia Commons.

According to calculations by journalists at the independent outlet Mediazona, in March 2024 Russian military courts adjudicated 684 cases of unauthorized abandonment of military units. This translates to an average of 34 sentences per working day.

The surge in cases under Article 337 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to desertion, began in September 2022, following Russia's first mass mobilization for the war in Ukraine, in which approximately 300,000 reservists were called up for service, and subsequent regulations effectively made temporary contracts with the Ministry of Defense indefinite, preventing soldiers from leaving the army.

Since the beginning of 2024, military courts have received approximately 2,300 cases, and since the onset of mobilization, nearly 7,400 cases have been recorded. The majority of these cases are concentrated in the Moscow (496 cases), Sverdlovsk (258), and Orenburg (255) regions.

Military courts have opted for suspended sentences in most instances of unauthorized abandonment. Mediazona reported that this is often done to allow the convicted soldier to be immediately deployed for combat duty, as individuals are only dismissed from service if they receive a custodial sentence.

The Russian military currently faces a serious shortage of personnel, prompting efforts to recruit foreigners, and to reports of a new moblization, as reported by Russian pro-war bloggers and independent sources such as Verstka. According to Verstka journalists, the current shortage, coupled with the Russian army's ambition to capture the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, is expected to result in a mobilization effort in the coming months.

You Might Also Like

The Least of These
  • February 10, 2024

The Least of These

A paramilitary summer camp along the Volga gets the indoctrination started early.
The Women with the White Scarves
  • January 08, 2024

The Women with the White Scarves

Family members of drafted soldiers picketed solo in Moscow demanding the return of their loved ones from the war in Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955