Representatives of the Headquarters of the Southern Military District are suspected of abuse of power in instances of the exploitation of servicemen’s labor.
A criminal case has been opened against the commander of the 58th army of the Southern Military District, Major-General Andrew Gurulev, under Part 5 of Article 33 (complicity in abuse of office) and part 1 of article 286 (abuse of power) of the Criminal Code.
In addition, the Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District, Lieutenant-General Nikolai Pereslegin, is charged with offenses under Part 1 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code (abuse of power) and Part 3 of the Article 327 of the Criminal Code (using a fake document).
In 2005, Major General Pereslegin became a student at the Military Academy of the General Staff. According to investigators, before departing for his studies he agreed with Colonel Gurulev, who at that time was the chief of staff and deputy commander of military unit 06705, about the illegal detachment of two soldiers.
One of the detached conscripts was illegally absent in the military unit for about 28 months; the second, a senior warrant officer, did not attend the unit for almost 26 months.
"In order to hide their lack of service, Gurulev organized the publication of false orders for their departure on vacations and missions, as well as assigning them higher military ranks," the press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reports.
All this time the soldiers were engaged in repair work and assembling furniture in Pereslegin’s service apartment in Moscow. In addition, one of them ran the General’s personal errands, and another one guarded Pereslegin’s private house in the Tver region for one and a half years, watching its condition and maintaining the surrounding area.
The criminal cases against Gurulev and Pereslegin are joined in one proceeding.
