Russian contract soldier Vyacheslav Pikalov, from the first days of the war in Ukraine, took part…

Russian contract soldier Vyacheslav Pikalov, who took part in hostilities in Ukraine from the first days of the war and returned from a “duty trip” in June 2022, was convicted of refusing to return there. On October 2, 2022, during the morning formation, the commander of the military unit conveyed to the military personnel the order to be sent to war. Pikalov and several other military men publicly refused to carry out the order.

The leadership of the military unit had an “additional conversation” with them, and the next day all the refuseniks, except Pikalov, went to Ukraine. The latter explained his refusal to carry out the order with fear for his life and health. The court came to the conclusion that “the defendant’s refusal to carry out the order of the commander to leave on a business trip, declared by the latter in the presence of the personnel of the military unit, where at that moment, according to the order, military personnel called up for military service upon mobilization were serving, could have a negative impact on the morale psychological state of the latter.”

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“Pikalov’s actions resulted in a decrease in the level of military discipline and the moral and psychological state of military personnel of the military unit, undermined the authority of the commander who gave the order, violated the principle of unity of command in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and also increased the workload on military personnel located in