Armenia declines to extradite Russian soldier who refused to fight in Ukraine
Armenia has reportedly refused to extradite a Russian soldier wanted by Moscow for desertion.
Independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on the case on Monday, citing human rights activists who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.
The outlet reported that the Russian soldier in question, 25-year-old Semyon Subbotin, served as a radio operator and gunner in Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, and had fled Russia in September 2024 with the help of Go to the Forest, a group of volunteers who aid Russian soldiers in deserting their units and fleeing the country.
According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, Russia filed a desertion case against him and placed him on an interstate wanted list. They also reported that Subbotin learned that people had arrived in Russia to either kill him or to pressure him to return. As a result, Subbotin opted to contact the Armenian police for help.
The outlet cited anonymous sources as saying that Subbotin was detained for 72 hours by the Armenian police after they had notified Russia about his whereabouts.
‘This period is given to the Russian side to transfer materials to decide on a preventive measure’, the outlet said, but claimed that the Russian military arrived at the detention centre where Subbotin was being held and attempted to ‘take him away, bypassing procedure’.
As a result, the activists contacted the Yerevan police and the Prosecutor’s Office and warned that Russia might attempt to kidnap Subbotin.
The man was released 72 hours later, but still awaits a possible extradition decision should Russia make the request.
‘The police are acting professionally and their actions are aimed at preventing the illegal removal of Subbotin’, the activists told Novaya Gazeta Europe.
The activists added that Russia has 40 days to submit an extradition request, and if it fails to do so, Armenia would no longer be obliged to hold Subbotin.
Subbotin is the latest Russian national to have faced extradition in Armenia upon Russia’s request.
In February, rights group Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly — Vanadzor reported that members of the Russian police ‘broke into’ a police station to ‘persuade’ a Russian national to surrender. The incident was related to a criminal investigation back in Russia.
In December 2023, Russia reportedly detained Russian military deserter Dmitry Setrakov in the Armenian city of Gyumri, later transferring him to Rostov-on-Don in Russia, despite the Armenian authorities claiming to have no knowledge of his detention or departure from the country.
Two months later, when asked about Setrakov’s case, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told France 24 that Setrakov’s abduction ‘greatly worried’ Yerevan.
‘[We] are also investigating that case, and if it turns out that everything is as you say, it will of course also lead to certain consequences, because, of course, we cannot tolerate illegal actions on the territory of our country’, Pashinyan said.
Several months later, in April 2024, another Russian deserter, Anatoly Shchetinin, according to the assembly, was kidnapped by Russian military police based in Gyumri.
However, shortly after Russian state media agency Sputnik published a video with Shchetinin in the territory of the base, in which he said: ‘No one detained me, no one held me by force. Everything was done of my own free will’.
The practice of enhanced interrogation techniques by Russian law enforcement to extract forced confessions, including torture and threats of violence, have been widely documented.
In March 2024, the assembly also received alerts from Russian citizens who ‘had escaped political persecution and sought refuge in Armenia’. They cited the Russian nationals as saying that they noticed people in Russian military uniforms near their places of residence, ‘who overtly follow them and seek information as to who resides in apartments they oversee’.
At the time, the assembly claimed that the Russian police used ‘an unregistered passenger car with an Armenian license plate, which is intended exclusively for operational intelligence operations’.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
This article was translated into Armenian and republished by our partner CivilNet.
