"Veteran-Chastener" fled from Russia to Belarus?

Head of the veterans' council of Pushkin District of Moscow Oblast Lyudmila Kondrashova told Evening Moscow: "Somebody tried to find him,but I think he has already left for Belarus. He stood trial there, so he may have relatives there."

The pensioner who was thought to be a Great Patriotic War veteran had helped the Nazis, Euroradio reported earlier.  The Russian Office of Public Prosecutor received copies of archive files connected with the case from General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus.

Red Army Lieutenant Syrahei M. was serving as a liaison officer, when he was captured by the German forces in July 1942. The prisoner-of-war betrayed other encircled fellow officers and joined the "Eastern" training regiment in Babruisk in December of the same year.

The former Red Army officer was a member of a punitive squad in France in August 1943 – September 1944. He was captured by US troops there. The Soviet secret services captured him in December 1945. The man was imprisoned for ten years for treason and had his military rank (lieutenant) invalidated.

The ex-chastener managed to obtain a WWII participant certificate in Moscow Oblast in 1980. He received social security allowances illegally for over thirty years.

Photo: vetka.by