Deserter from Crimea gets prison term

While serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2014, Major Volodymyr Maryin from Feodosia went over to the side of the invaders. He was "promoted" to the rank of lieutenant colonel with the occupiers

According to the Center for Investigative Journalism, citing a court decision, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv convicted him of the crime on September 9.

The report says that the court found that Maryin Volodymyr Georgievich from Feodosia, Crimea, had been serving under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 1997 in various positions and in various military ranks. In December 2013, he was appointed deputy division commander for weapons - commander of the radio technical battery of the anti-aircraft missile division (S-300PS) of the 5010th group of anti-aircraft missile divisions of the military unit in the tactical group of the Air Force "Crimea" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After the occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in the spring of 2014, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine set a timeframe for the arrival of servicemen from the peninsula. However, Volodymyr Maryin refused to comply with the order and did not report to the military unit on time, nor did he inform the command of his whereabouts. Later it became known that Maryin had gone over to the enemy and signed a contract with the armed forces of the invading country. As of November 2018, he served the invaders as a division commander of the anti-aircraft missile troops of the Russian Armed Forces. The occupiers then "promoted" him from major to lieutenant colonel.

It is noted that the court found Volodymyr Maryin guilty of desertion and high treason in the wording of the Criminal Code of 2001 and 2014, respectively. The court sentenced him to 14 years in prison with confiscation of all personal property and deprivation of the military rank of "major".

Володимир Шкаєв