INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A member of the Russian Armed Forces was handed a one-year suspended sentence back in August for deserting his unit in Ukraine, a court in
Pskov announced on Monday.Professional soldier Mikhail Guryanov was found guilty by the court of abandoneding his unit on Apr
Pskov-based paratrooper unit that occupied the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where Russian troops were subsequently accused of carrying out some of
lenient sentence in recognition of both his guilty plea and his military service in Ukraine.Guryanov told the judge he abandoned his unit
having "decided to take a break."Shortly before President Vladimir Putin announced the "partial" mobilization of reserves in September,
federal lawmakers passed legislation introducing jail terms of up to 10 years for desertion during mobilization or wartime.Guryanov is at
least the third Russian soldier known to have been sentenced for desertion in recent months.
