October 7 marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of *Novaya Gazeta* journalist Anna Politkovskaya. While the courts have identified the perpetrators and organizers of the crime, the person who ordered the killing has never been named. The statute of limitations for the case expired in 2021—fifteen years after the murder took place.
The Makhachkala Garrison Court and the Southern District Court sentenced residents of Dagestan Bayramali Turlalov and Osman Tokayev to five and five and a half years in prison, respectively. They were found guilty of leaving a military unit without permission during mobilization.
According to investigators, mobilized Turlaev was absent from his military unit for more than a month. In his own defense, he tried to continue serving in the “North Military District” zone in Ukraine. However, the state prosecution and the court were adamant - five years in a general regime colony.
Another resident of Dagestan, Osman Tokayev, served under contract since September 2022, and then left his unit for a month. Previously, he also participated in SVO. In this case, the defense tried to challenge the verdict, citing the illness of the serviceman’s parents. Nevertheless, he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.