SBU counterintelligence detained two Russian army deserters en route to Kyiv

Stopped at the administrative border

The Security Service of Ukraine announced the detention of two servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who left the front line and attempted to infiltrate Kyiv. Both suspects are contract soldiers of the 291st Motor Rifle Regiment of the Russian Southern Military District.

The offenders were identified in the frontline territory of the Donetsk region. They were travelling in a car they had stopped by hitchhiking, heading towards the Ukrainian capital. Both men were dressed in civilian clothes. The detention took place at a checkpoint on the entrance to the Dnipropetrovsk region. During the inspection, a Russian army serviceman's token was found around the neck of one of them.

Details of the escape and route

According to the investigation, the Russian fighters hoped to reach Kyiv, where relatives of one of them reside, and "lie low" there. Recently, both soldiers were sent to storm positions of the Ukrainian Defence Forces on the Kramatorsk direction. After this, they fled the line of contact and penetrated into a settlement in the so-called "grey" zone.

In an abandoned house, they found civilian clothes, changed into them, and buried their military uniforms and issued weapons in the same dwelling. They then walked on foot to the district centre. Along the way, they stopped a car, the owner of which agreed to give them a ride to Dnipro. From there, they planned to continue their journey to the capital. However, their plans failed, as law enforcement officers managed to detain them in the area of the administrative border of the frontline region.

Investigation and legal consequences

The investigation established that one of the detainees is a resident of the temporarily occupied Dovzhansk in the Luhansk region, who has two prior convictions for murder. He has been fighting on the side of the enemy against the Ukrainian Defence Forces since 2016. After the start of the full-scale invasion, this recidivist participated in battles near Bakhmut, serving as an assistant to the gunner of an anti-tank guided missile system.

SBU investigators informed him of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: parts 1 and 2 of Article 111 (treason committed under martial law) and part 7 of Article 111-1 (collaborationist activities). Currently, the offender is in custody without the right to bail. He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

His accomplice, a Russian citizen who signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence of the aggressor state while serving a prison sentence for murder, is currently being held in the status of a prisoner of war. The investigation is ongoing to clarify all circumstances of the crime.