Garrison military courts have begun dismissing cases against members of the armed forces who have committed minor crimes in exchange for donations to foundations that support the army. The We Can Explain Telegram channel claims to have discovered dozens of such cases in different regions of Russia.
Most often, we are talking about cases initiated against military personnel for receiving or giving a bribe. The money is transferred to funds associated with the Ministry of Defense or the All-Russian People's Front (ONF).
For example, the Stavropol garrison military court dismissed the case of Ilya Buryak, who gave a bribe to a traffic police officer when passing an exam for a driver's license, after the accused transferred 15,000 rubles to the Zashchita charity foundation. In Novosibirsk, the court closed the case against contractor Ruslan Garifullin, who faced up to five years in prison for stealing ammunition from a military unit. Garifullin transferred 15,000 rubles to the Everything for Victory fund.
The Ministry of Defense announced the creation of the Zashchita Foundation, which should help military personnel and their families, in the summer of 2022. In fact, Can Explain found out that this organization has been around longer, but it used to be called Resurrection. The board of this fund included, for example, the organization of veterans of the Russian army and two-time Olympic champion Elena Isinbayeva, and Promsvyazbank and Lukoil are among the donors. The Foundation "Everything for Victory" was founded by the ONF.