January 11, 2023

From Hero to Zero


From Hero to Zero
Russian 56th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade
Igor Rudenko, Wikimedia 
 Commons

According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, the Odintsovo military court (Moscow Oblast) has sentenced 30-year-old sergeant Roman Kashtakov to two years probation because he did not show up for his military service. 

Yet Roman Kashtakov is not just a soldier, but a “hero” of the war. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, in March, Kashtakov destroyed an ammunition truck and five armored personnel carriers of the Ukrainian army with one lucky shot.

According to the verdict in his AWOL case, Kashtakov did not return on time from vacation to his service post. He had received a ten-day leave on June 24 from his field camp near the border of Ukraine in Valuysky district, Belgorod region. He only returned to duty in September.

This is not the first time a Russian soldier has been convicted for not showing up for military service. According to Mediazona, from the beginning of the war through December of last year, 790 sentences were handed down in such cases. And since the beginning of mobilization and the entry into force of the new law toughening punishment for going AWOL "during the period of mobilization or martial law, during wartime, or in conditions of armed conflict or warfare," some 40 similar cases have been recorded. In particular, in 19 cases, military members have been given heavy sentences: from 5 to 10 years in prison.

However, with Roman Kashtakov, the court chose a rather lenient punishment: only two years of probation. As follows from the verdict, the court considered Kashtakov's state award and his "participation in the special military operation."

Interestingly, while Komsomolskaya Pravda (a pro-Kremlin daily newspaper) recorded Kashtakov's "exploits" as a hero, it has yet to report that the war “hero” did not show up for service and was convicted.

You Might Also Like

Let it Go, Let it Go
  • December 30, 2022

Let it Go, Let it Go

Russian men mobilized to fight in Russia's War on Ukraine will be able to freeze and store their sperm for free.
War Support Falling
  • December 04, 2022

War Support Falling

According to an internal, Kremlin poll, 55% of Russians favor negotiations with Ukraine, and only 25% are in favor of continuing the war.
Death Awaits Them
  • October 12, 2022

Death Awaits Them

"Honestly, they will all die there." – Kirill, a Russian soldier who has fought in Ukraine offers a grim prognosis of what awaits the new mobilized recruits.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

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.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Samovar Murders

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.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

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