Illustrative photo from open sources
In the Armenian city of Gyumri, Russian military police detained Russian citizen Anatoly Shchetinin, who was wanted in his homeland as a deserter who refused to fight in Ukraine.
According to media reports, Shchetinin is being prepared send to Russia. He is currently being held on the territory of the 102nd Russian military base.
According to a statement by the Armenian branch of the human rights organization Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, Shchetinin's kidnapping violates the laws of Armenia. Human rights activists have already appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country with a request to prevent the removal of the Russian, to release him, and to bring to justice those who illegally detained him, Radio Liberty reports.
The media note that what happened – This is not the first incident involving the abduction of Russian citizens on the territory of Armenia. At the end of last year, Dmitry Setrakov was detained, who deserted from the Russian army and moved to Armenia so as not to participate in the invasion of Ukraine.
Despite the fact that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan then called the actions of the Russian military police illegal, Setrakov was taken out of the country, and nothing is known about his further fate.
- In early April, the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly reported on surveillance in Armenia of Russian citizens who left their country for political reasons . According to human rights activists, the Russians who contacted them complained that they were being “openly persecuted.” people dressed in Russian military uniforms with the goal of “obtaining information about who lives in their apartments.” The Armenian Service of Radio Liberty wrote about this.
Prepared by: Sergey Daga