"He is not that against the war - he does not care." What is wrong in the history of a Russian -child, allegedly stolen in Armenia

On April 9, Armenian human rights defenders reported the abduction of Anatoly Shchetinin, a Russian, who is in a criminal case in his homeland for abandoning the army service. The next day, the lawyer of the International Protection Center Narek Akopyan and Asmik Novikov from the Public Verdict Foundation found him on the Russian military base in Gyumri. Shchetinin assured that he did not need their help, and the case against him was terminated. His Yerevan acquaintance, with whom Mediazona spoke, claims: the young man had long wanted to return to Russia, simply could not afford a ticket.

Why is the story of the abduction of a Russian deserter in Armenia looks likely

With the outbreak of war, Armenia became one of the main directions of emigration for Russians. Moscow and Yerevan are connected by agreements involving the mutual issuance of criminals - in particular, the Minsk Convention on the legal assistance of 1993. However, according to this document, the issuance "is carried out for such acts that, according to the laws of requesting and requested by the Contracting Parties, are punishable." Since there are no articles on the military “fakes” and “discrediting” the army in the Criminal Code of Armenia, this country remains the safest of those where anti -war Russians can get without a passport, said Diana Pozhautskaya, coordinator of the Emigrats Project, the Coordinator of the Emigrators Project.

At the same time, for decades, Armenia has closely collaborated with the Russian special services - even its own foreign intelligence service in the country appeared only in the year before, when relations with Moscow were spoiled against the backdrop of the war in Karabakh; Before that, Yerevan relied on Russian intelligence.

Since 1992, the FSB border services, along with the Armenian colleagues, were on duty at the Zavvarnots International International Airport. In mid-March, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan promised that until August 1, 2024 they would leave the airport, and also announced the country's exit from the organization of the collective security agreement (CSTO). But despite these sharp statements, the Russian security forces still retain the active presence in Armenia.

On December 7 last year, the mobilized in Russia disappeared in Gyumri and with the help of the “Forest” project, Dmitry Setrakov, who was running to Armenia, was called his wife, who introduced himself as an employee of the “Military Police of Armenia”. Later it turned out that they called from the number that belongs to the Russian soldier, and Setrakov himself at that time was on the territory of the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri, which has been there since 1995.

In Russia, the case was opened on Setrakov under the article on unauthorized leave during the mobilization period.

On December 19, it turned out that he was no longer in Armenia: after an interrogation in the military police department in the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, the court sent Setrakov to a pre-trial detention center, they told Mediazone to “go forest”. Human rights activists found a lawyer for him, but it was not possible to find out how the Russian ended up on a military base in Gyumri-the arrested did not give permission to disclose any details of his business. The Armenian prosecutor’s office in response to the “go forest” requested that there was no request from Russia to detain Setrakov, it was not put on the wanted list. Thus, it would be more correct to call what happened not by detention, but by kidnapping, they think in the project “Go Forest”.

Human rights activists from the Helsinki Civil Assembly in the city of Vanadzens ( Helsinki Citizembly Vanadzor, HCAV) tried to get a criminal case on the fact of kidnapping Setrakov, but received a refusal to refuse, the representative of Ani Chatinyan told Mediazone.

“They just answered in two lines that what happened is not a crime. Although this, of course, is a crime that we are trying to prove in the courts. Now our complaint is considered in the second instance. Representatives of the Russian military police, Russian military and investigators from the base in Gyumri have no right to detain people in Armenia, they should only engage in internal affairs of the base in Gyumri, this is definitely a crime, ”Chatinyan explains.

In March, a representative of the Russian diaspora in Armenia told Mediazone that emigrants who left countries for political reasons began to notice surveillance near their houses. After that, some of them decided to change their place of residence.

The human rights activists from HCAV also reported the same. According to emigrants who addressed them, sometimes surveillance, without hiding, led people in military uniform. Ani Chatinyan suggests that it could be military personnel from the Russian base in Gyumri.

“Their activities in Armenia outside the military base are not provided, they do not have the right to do this, however, this happens. They move by car with local numbers, there were cases when they noticed people in Russian military uniforms, ”she says. The Russians living in Gyumri even complain that the Russian military seems to be employees of the prosecutor's office of Armenia and check their documents.

I just could not stand it. What actually happened to Anatoly Shchetinin

On April 9, HCAV reported the “next illegal operation of Russian law enforcement officers” in Armenia. Human rights activists said that Gyumri stole and illegally took Anatoly Shchetinin, who was wanted for refusing military service, to the territory of the Russian military base of Russia. HCAV accused the Russian security forces of “illegal activity” and “illegal retention” of Shchetinin.

The organization later clarified that the information came from a familiar Russian. She told human rights activists that Shchetinin came to the Russian consulate in Gyumri from Yerevan and was detained by the Russian military police at the exit from the diplomatic mission.

Mediazona found a 26-year-old Anatoly Shchetinin in the basis of the search for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to what article a criminal case has been instituted against him is unknown. The project “Go Forest” and “Vespuzhk” did not help him leave Russia - probably Shchetinin did it on his own. Judging by the leaks from databases, before emigration, he lived in Kamchatka and could serve on a contract in the 155th Marine Brigade.

According to the Russian, who met Shchetinin in Yerevan, he moved to Armenia about six months ago - he left the part when the commanders started talking about an imminent business trip to the front.

In Armenia, Shchetinin lived in an illegal position, without asking for visas and not having a livelihood, his acquaintance says.

“He wanted to return to Russia and surrender, several times even went to the embassy in Yerevan, but there they told him - go home. He walked, because he had trite money for a ticket to Russia. Being put on the wanted list, he has no opportunity to legalize, no one helps such people here, and they do not know what to do. Having no prospects, they go crazy and decide that it is better to fight and kill in Ukraine than to live here, being nobody, without any prospects in life. He simply could not stand it, ”the interlocutor of Mediazones argues.

According to him, the common acquaintances for a long time dissuaded Shchetinin from returning to Russia, but he only affirmed in his intention. A source of Mediazone remembered: Shchetinin said that, despite the search, he maintained a connection with his commander, and he promised that a criminal case could be avoided if he voluntarily return to the unit and go to fight to Ukraine.

“We persuaded him not to do this, not to engage in garbage, but he made such a decision in the end, because life is like that for him, it was difficult ... I just decided that it would be easier. That is, his refusal to participate in hostilities was not ideological, and in the end his consent in order to go there - there is no idea behind this. Here everything simply rested on the possibilities for survival: where it will be easier and I will act. That is, he is not that he does not care against the war. I just wanted to save my life, but now I decided that if I would fight, then to fight, ”the Russian who spoke with Shchetinin explains.

The next morning, after the detention of Shchetinin, the expert of the public verdict Foundation ASMIK Novikov and the lawyer of the International Protection Center Narek Akopyan arrived at the Russian military base in Gyumri. After a conversation with the duty officer on the checkpoint, they were allowed to meet with Shchetinin on the street in front of the nurse. Yakopyan did not notice visible bodily injuries; According to their observations, Shchetinin was rather not suppressed, but annoyed. The Russian military policeman who accompanied him was at a sufficient distance, so communication with the defender was confidential. Despite this, Shchetinin first hastened to declare that he did not need either legal or any other help.

With a girl who told HCAV about his “abduction”, Shchetinin, according to him, had a fight when he found out that he became a hero of news.

“A man immediately began to try to actively convey the point of view that no one abducted him, that he did not need any help, that everything was in order with him, that the criminal case against him was terminated and he wants to go to Russia. It sounded like a certain coordinated version. Of course, we had doubts about how independent it is, but on the other hand, it is obvious that he himself believes in it. He was in normal condition, but at the same time made the impression of such a very impartial guy who really believes that everything will be in order if there is no publicity. He was even outraged that he was, as it were, the usual story was turned into some kind of such scandalous case, ”explains Asmik Novikova.

According to her, in a conversation with a lawyer, Shchetinin explained that the case of unauthorized leave was really initiated against him, but this issue was already “closed”. He refused to show the documents confirming this, although he assured that he saw them.

Upon learning that the case was terminated, Shchetinin wanted to return to Russia, but not at his own expense. The embassy was refused to help him, so on April 9 he went to Gyumri. There, at first he was detained by Armenian police, but after the survey they released. Then he went to the Russian Consulate General. At the exit, a Russian military police car was already waiting for him. According to him, he got into the car without any coercion.

Asmik Novikova doubts that the criminal case against Shchetinin is really terminated. “He told the lawyer that he had already tried to take him twice, but his departure was blocked. This means, either that the matter has not gone anywhere, or that the Armenian border guards have not yet received information about its termination. If the case is really not terminated, it means that the Armenian border guards simply block the export of a person who is not exported in accordance with the extradition procedure, ”the human rights activist said.

The representative of the Prosecutor General of Armenia AREVICH KHACHATRAN said that now the department is conducting an audit of the HCAV on the “abduction” of Shchetinin.

Editor: Dmitry Tkachev