OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
1:20 PM – Sunday, January 14, 2024
A former Russian mayor who was found guilty of bribery had his prison sentence shortened after agreeing to fight alongside the nation’s military in Ukraine.
On Sunday, local media reported that Oleg Gumenyuk, who is a former Russian mayor, had his prison sentence shortened after signing an agreement to fight with Russia’s military in Ukraine.
Gumenyuk served as mayor of Vladivostok, a far-eastern city and cultural center, from 2018 to 2021.
Last year, Gumenyuk was found guilty of accepting bribes totaling 38 million roubles, or roughly $432,000, and was given a 12-year prison sentence as a result.
However, according to his lawyer Andrei Kitaev, Gumenyuk was freed after consenting to fight and carry weapons as part of his nation’s military campaign in Ukraine, which began almost two years ago, as reported by the Russian news agency Kommersant.
Kitaev stated that although it was unclear where the former mayor was located, he had been told to report to his military unit on December 22nd.
“According to an order issued to Gumenyuk, he was supposed to report to his military unit on December 22nd,” Kommersant cited Gumenyuk’s lawyer as saying.
Photos that have been making the rounds on social media feature a man who resembles Gumenyuk with a firearm and surrounded by other service members.
In an unprecedented effort to resupply its forces in Ukraine, Russia has deployed thousands of inmates straight out of the nation’s prisons. Prisoners who volunteer to serve six months on the front lines are released after they return.
With the promise of clemency for those who survive their deployments at the front, tens of thousands of Russian prisoners voluntarily served in Ukraine.
Authorities have previously utilized this strategy. During World War II, the Soviet Union used “prisoner battalions.”
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