A warrant officer from Rostov has been fined 2.5 million rubles (approx. US$28,500) for conversations with subordinates about the war.

The Southern District Military Court, in an appeal, fined Warrant Officer Seferbeg Gadzhiev two and a half million rubles (approx. US$28,500) for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army using his official position (part “a,” section 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by Kavkaz.Realii, who noted the decision on the court’s website.

The reason for the criminal prosecution was conversations Gadzhiev had with his subordinates. In September 2024, during two conversations, “wishing to frighten the personnel under his command in the guard detail,” the warrant officer “exaggerated the successes of the enemy in the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic and spoke negatively about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces.”

He was initially sentenced to five and a half years in a general regime penal colony and stripped of the rank of warrant officer. The sentence was handed down on 14 April 2025.

At the appeal heard on 20 June, the panel of judges found the sentence excessively harsh. In addition to replacing the prison term with a fine, the court decided to reinstate Gadzhiev’s rank of warrant officer. He was released from custody the same day.

Gadzhiev pleaded guilty. His defence lawyer, who requested a reduced sentence, noted that the warrant officer had donated 10,000 rubles (approx. US$110) to the Rostov Centre for Assistance to Children, was prepared to continue serving in the “special military operation zone,” and also needed to look after a young child and elderly parents.