Military Investigators Refuse to Comment on Mogocha Ex-Wife Murder Case

Military investigators, citing federal legislation, did not respond to questions from the editorial board of Chita.Ru about the criminal prosecution of a native of Azerbaijan, who, while serving as a serviceman, was convicted for illegal weapons possession and the murder of his ex-wife in the city of Mogocha, Zabaykalsky Krai. A response to the inquiry was received by the Chita.Ru editorial board.

In August 2025, the district court in Mogocha sentenced the shooter to 15 years of strict regime imprisonment. The Zabaykalsky Krai court on October 22 changed the sentence, removing 1 year of restricted freedom, which was added to the main term. This decision was made because the convict is a serviceman. Otherwise, the sentence remained the same. It is known that the murderer avoided punishment for escaping from the military unit. The criminal case for desertion was reclassified to unauthorized leaving of the unit, and then terminated by a military investigator in Voronezh, where the serviceman voluntarily surrendered to the commandant«s office.

The Chita.Ru editorial board sent an inquiry to the Chief Military Prosecutor of Russia, Valery Petrov. Among other things, we tried to find out:

• Was an assessment given of the decision by the military investigator from the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) for the Voronezh garrison to terminate the criminal case?

• Are other criminal cases related to service being investigated against the murderer, who became a serviceman even before the court«s decision?

• Does the convict have the right to participate in the special military operation?

According to the response, the inquiry was redirected to the military prosecutor«s office of the Eastern Military District, and then to the military prosecutor»s office of the Borzinsky garrison (even though the contract serviceman serves in a military unit in Chita, and the desertion case, before being transferred to Voronezh, was initially initiated in the military investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Chita garrison), where they responded that the military prosecutor«s office of the Borzinsky garrison does not supervise the military investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Voronezh garrison and that a criminal case against the serviceman was not initiated in the investigative department supervised by the prosecutor»s office of the Borzinsky garrison. No other answers followed.

Now, a response to the same inquiry has arrived at the editorial board, but from the Military Investigative Directorate for the Moscow Military District (Voronezh Oblast is part of this district). The document states that in accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and the List of Information in the Field of Military and Military-Technical Activities of the Russian Federation That Can Be Used Against the Security of the Russian Federation, approved by order of the FSB of Russia dated November 4, 2022, No. 547, the information requested by the Chita.Ru editorial board is not subject to disclosure.

The murder occurred on the evening of October 6, 2024. The man ambushed and shot his ex-wife Yekaterina at least 12 times. The woman left behind a young daughter. In early 2025, the criminal case was transferred to the Mogochinsky District Court. But, while in pre-trial detention, the accused in February concluded a contract with the Ministry of Defense and went to the special military operation, and the court suspended the consideration of the case.

Already at the end of the same month, an alert supposedly appeared online for a serviceman who unauthorizedly left a military unit in the DNR. Presumably, this was the main person involved in the murder case in Mogocha. In April, it became known that the consideration of the criminal case in court would be resumed, and the commander of the unit, to which the accused was sent to participate in the SMO, said that the serviceman left the unit«s location and is wanted. In particular, at the court hearing, it was stated that a criminal case under the article »Desertion« had been initiated against the accused, and after investigation, this case would be transferred to a military court.

And on April 11, the Mogochinsky District Court reported that the proceedings in the criminal case were again suspended until the accused is caught. Only in August did official information appear that the person involved in the case is again in custody, and on August 29, the district court in Mogocha sentenced the native of Azerbaijan to 15 years of strict regime imprisonment for the murder of his ex-wife and illegal weapons possession. In addition, he must pay 6 million rubles (approximately $60,000 at current rates) to the parents of the killed woman.

The military investigator established that the convict became a contract serviceman on February 12, 2025, and already on February 25, he unauthorizedly left the place of service—a military unit in the DNR, departing in an unknown direction. It is claimed that on March 1, he voluntarily appeared at the military commandant«s office in the city of Voronezh. Since the unauthorized leaving of the unit lasted over 2 days but not more than 10, the serviceman»s actions were reclassified to part 2.1 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, i.e., unauthorized leaving of the unit.

After which the military investigator concluded that although signs of a crime are seen in the serviceman«s actions, given that the period of evasion from military service duties is 5 days, the preliminary investigation body comes to the conclusion that the act committed by the man, due to its insignificance, does not pose a public danger and is not a crime.