Three Russian servicemen were accused of kidnapping and attacking a commander; one of the defendants has already died in the war

The Southern District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don received materials from a criminal case against three Russian servicemen. Mediazona drew attention to the case file on the court’s website.

A case has been opened against Alexander Askalepov, Dmitry Mayborodin and Yaroslav Yartsev on several counts. All three are accused of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm resulting in the death of a person, unlawful deprivation of liberty by an organized group and abuse of official power resulting in the death of a person. In addition, Askalepov and Yartsev are charged with violating statutory rules that resulted in grave consequences, and Yartsev is charged with violent actions against his superior.

Stanislav Fidelsky, lawyer for Dmitry Mayborodin, called his client an unfairly accused “man-legend” and added that the military’s defense will seek to have their case heard by a jury. According to the lawyer, all three defendants served in the Sokol volunteer battalion in the Kherson region, and they are accused of a “far-fetched crime.” However, Fidelsky did not talk about the details of the accusation.

“Mayborodin is a pensioner of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, born in 1981, from 2015 to 2021 he performed tasks outside of Russia, has four state awards, three of them were awarded by closed decrees,” Fidelsky told Mediazona. — He spent 43 days, from February 8 to March 23, 2023, as a prisoner of war in an iron carriage in the Kherson region. Without windows, without doors - neither day nor night is visible. A bucket, water and a loaf of bread once a day.”

According to Fidelsky, all three defendants are special forces soldiers, while the accused Yaroslav Yartsev is no longer alive. In the community of the “Martial Arts Club No. 1” of Voronezh it is said that serviceman Yartsev died “in the South-East of Ukraine during a shooting battle, while trying to come to the aid of a wounded comrade.”

“They were given a preventive measure - a written undertaking not to leave the place, and then sent to the SVO zone,” Fidelsky said. “It was while performing special tasks that he [Yartsev] died.”

Dmitry Mayborodin is in the guardhouse in Sevastopol, the lawyer added.

“Now [the case has been transferred] to the Kherson Garrison Military Court, but we are asking to change the territorial jurisdiction,” Fidelsky said. — It’s hard to travel, there is no videoconferencing, there are 25 witnesses — most of them live in the Rostov, Moscow regions, Krasnodar Territory, Tatarstan. It is difficult to ensure their appearance [in court]. We ask you to change the jurisdiction to Rostov or Novocherkassk [military courts].”

One of the three defendants in the case, Alexander Askalepov, told Mediazona that he would not comment on the details of the charges until the trial.

“All I can tell you is that we were accused of something we didn’t do, and the court will sort it out,” he said.

When asked about his location, Askalepov said that he was on the territory of Ukraine. “Of course, I defend [nrzb],” he replied.