INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia this year has seen a huge uptick in the number of its soldiers facing trial for murders committed outside the conflict zone in
Ukraine, the independent news outlet Vyorstkareported Thursday, citing military court records.At least 147 Russian soldiers went on trial
for murder between January and September, representing an almost 10-fold increase compared to the 15 murder cases heard against soldiers in
military courts for the entirety of 2022.Vyorstka said court verdicts from this year indicate that most soldiers facing trial committed
murders under the influence of alcohol.In one of the cases cited by the outlet, a mobilized soldier from Kamchatka, while intoxicated, shot
a woman to death with a Kalashnikov assault rifle after learning that she did not support Moscow's invasion of Ukraine
the Wagner mercenary outfit, which had been known to recruit prison inmates to fight in Ukraine in exchange for pardons.Likewise, the outlet
did not break down the criminal defendants by rank or type of military service, but it did note that among the weapons used in the murders
