The Rostov-on-Don garrison military court sentenced Colonel of the Russian Guard Valery Kotovich to six years in a penal colony for disseminating deliberately false information about the use of the Russian armed forces. The accused pleaded not guilty, the defense did not agree with the court’s decision and appealed against it.
The former head of the procurement department of the Southern Center for Logistics of the Russian Guard (FKU “Southern CMTO of the Russian Guard”) Valery Kotovich was found guilty of disseminating false information about the use of the RF Armed Forces using his official position based on political, national, ideological hatred (p. “a”, item “d” part 2 article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He was assigned six years in a penal colony, in addition, he was deprived of the rank of colonel and the right to hold certain positions for three years after his release. The verdict has not entered into force and has already been appealed by the defense.
The trial in the case of Valery Kotovich in the Rostov-on-Don garrison military court began in December 2022. From the data announced in court, it follows that Valery Kotovich is a native of Ukraine, graduated from the Kharkov Military Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and served in the internal troops of Ukraine on the territory of Crimea. In 2014, he received Russian citizenship and entered the service of law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation. Since 2020, he has been serving in the Federal State Institution “Southern CMTO of the Russian Guard” as the head of the procurement department.
At one of the court hearings, the head of the center, Aleksey Kustov, and his deputy, Eduard Glebov, said that after the start of the SVO, Valery Kotovich’s relations with other employees worsened. According to the colleagues of the defendant Kotovich, because of the special operation that had begun, he quarreled with his brother and acquaintances living on the territory of Ukraine, so he was in a depressed state.
Several colleagues of the colonel told the authorities that he allegedly called the Russian army an occupier and aggressor. At the same time, both witnesses emphasized that they knew about the conflicts and the alleged position of Valery Kotovich only from the words of his subordinates, and the colonel himself did not say anything like that.
The press service of the garrison military court told Kommersant that the colonel pleaded not guilty. During the debate, the prosecutor requested that the accused be sentenced to nine years in prison. The defendant’s lawyers insisted on the need to close the case due to the lack of corpus delicti. His lawyers refused to discuss in detail the position of Valery Kotovich in the case with the media.