Better they kill me at the front than continue this kind of life.” The story of a prison...

“Better they kill me at the front than continue this kind of life.” The story of a prisoner who voluntarily went to war and fled to France, in a piece by Vot Tak

Fifty-year-old Muscovite Dmitry Karmanov worked as a technician at a Moscow hypermarket and at the same time repaired electronics. In 2021, under the influence of opposition figure Vyacheslav Maltsev, Dmitry began buying deactivated weapons and converting them into live firearms. In 2022, a week before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Dmitry was caught red-handed and detained.

Karmanov was sentenced to 6 years in prison. He served his sentence in Penal Colony No. 2 in the town of Pokrov, Vladimir Region. In the colony where Alexei Navalny was once held, Dmitry encountered physical violence, informing, and abuse.

At the beginning of 2024, recruiters appeared in the colony. Karmanov joined the first group of volunteers, signed a contract with the Defense Ministry, and spent two and a half months at the front.

After his second concussion, he was taken to a hospital and then loaded onto a medical train heading deeper into Russia. During a stop, Karmanov managed to escape.

With the help of the human rights project Get Lost, Dmitry made it to France via Belarus, Armenia, and Tunisia, where he applied for political asylum.

“They interrogated me for a long time and took all my documents. They wanted to deport me to Tunisia. I said that if they forced me onto a plane, I would blow it apart. I had nothing to lose anyway. That happened twice,” says the former prisoner.

Read the story of deserter Dmitry Karmanov in Vot Tak's piece on the website (with VPN): (or via the mirror).

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

🗽 VPN Liberty gives 30 days of free access to all subscribers of the Verstka channel. Click the blue text and use the free period without linking a card or automatic charges. Telegram bot 🔛

vot-tak.tv

From the front to Paris: the story of a Russian prisoner's escape from the war

Fifty-year-old Muscovite Dmitry Karmanov ended up in Penal Colony No. 2 in Pokrov for illegally converting weapons. In the colony where Alexei Navalny was once held, he encountered physical violence, informing, and...