Russian soldiers avoid prison despite killing 20 civilians in Belgorod road accidents

At least 20 civilians have been killed in road accidents involving military vehicles in western Russia’s Belgorod region since the start of the war, independent news outlet Vot Tak reported on Monday.

Using publicly available data, Vot Tak calculated that there had been a total of 31 separate accidents in the region, causing 20 fatalities and 32 injuries. Many of the accidents, it said, were caused by those driving the military vehicles refusing to give way, running red lights, failing to keep their distance, attempting to overtake or driving into oncoming traffic.

In 18 cases, the servicemen responsible for civilians suffering minor or moderate injuries were fined between 2,500 rubles (€27) and 15,000 rubles (€160) for violating traffic rules, Vot Tak added.

Just four cases in which the accidents proved fatal or caused serious injuries to civilians resulted in criminal charges, Vot Tak said, though it noted that none of the servicemen responsible for accidents had received a custodial sentence, with the harshest punishment being a two-year suspended sentence that was handed down in one case.

In multiple cases, the court considered the fact that those driving the military vehicles were fighting in Ukraine as mitigating circumstances, Vot Tak said, highlighting one case in which the serviceman in question was classed as a witness rather than as a defendant.

In August, a military truck crashed into a car in Belgorod, killing both its driver and her 12-year-old daughter. However, according to the investigation, another driver who hit the Defence Ministry Kamaz truck while attempting to overtake it was to blame, having caused the military truck to lose control, veer into the wrong lane and crash into the oncoming car.

To date, Russia’s Defence Ministry has only compensated five civilian victims involved in two separate accidents involving military vehicles in the Belgorod region, Vot Tak added.