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The Oktyabrsky District Court in Tambov has given a one-year suspended sentence to a local resident accused of discrediting the army (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code), reports the regional court press service.

He was also banned from administering websites and online channels for a year.

Court records and the case details in the press release indicate that the case concerns Oleg Borisenko, a former Wagner Group mercenary. The verdict was announced on 13 August.

Borisenko was convicted over a video address published on VKontakte on 20 May 2023. According to an expert, it contained “statements about the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of a discrediting nature.”

The former mercenary did not plead guilty.

Originally, Borisenko had been charged with three counts of discrediting the army under this case. In September, the court sent the case back to the prosecutor’s office. It was subsequently sent to court again but only with one charge remaining.

The case against Borisenko stemmed from his video addresses. In one, he called on former members of the military-patriotic club he founded not to take part in the war with Ukraine, calling it criminal. In another, he addressed Maxim Yegorov, governor of Tambov Region, criticising pro-war banners and inviting him to visit the graves of soldiers killed in Ukraine. The final charges involved only the address to the former club members.

At the end of 2023, the former mercenary was convicted in another criminal case for discrediting the army. He was also charged then with illegal possession of explosives (Part 1, Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code). That time, the discrediting charge was due to him spraying paint over a poster with the letters Z and V—he believed the symbols resembled SS and Wehrmacht chevrons. The explosives charge related to gunpowder found in his home. In that case, Borisenko received a six-year suspended sentence and a 150,000-rouble fine (approx. US$1,650).

In spring 2022, Borisenko was fined 30,000 roubles (approx. US$330) under administrative charges of discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of a sticker with a crossed-out Z on his car window. At the hearing, he said he had taken part in hostilities in Chechnya and Syria.

  • In 2014–2015, Borisenko served with Wagner Group in the fighting in Donbas. He later said he had “fallen for the propaganda about ‘crucified boys,’” but after seeing events for himself in those regions, he changed his views. He also served with the Group in Syria, but later left the unit.