Russian man gets 20 years for killing military police officer who tried to detain his deserter son
Alexey Zaitsev, 63, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting a military police officer who came to arrest his son for desertion.
The Lipetsk Regional Court has sentenced 63-year-old Alexey Zaitsev to 20 years in prison for killing a military police officer, the court’s press service reported. Zaitsev was found guilty of illegal possession of explosives and ammunition, assault on the life of a law enforcement officer, and threatening violence against a government official. He will serve the first three years in prison and the rest in a strict-regime colony. The court also ordered him to pay 2 million rubles to the victim’s minor son.
The incident occurred in March 2026 in the village of Shcherbinino. According to the Russian business daily Kommersant, military police officers arrived at Zaitsev’s home on March 18 to detain his 35-year-old son, who had deserted his unit after more than a year of contract service and was wanted for going AWOL. Zaitsev refused to let the three officers inside, cursing and threatening to shoot them.
The next day, the officers returned with local Interior Ministry officers. Zaitsev again threatened them and a fight broke out. After officers restrained him and tried to enter the house, Zaitsev’s mother and his son—armed with a hunting rifle—met them at the door. The younger Zaitsev demanded that police release his father and leave. Once released, the elder Zaitsev grabbed the rifle and threatened the officers. As they walked toward their car, he shot one of them in the back. The wounded sergeant died. Two police officers knocked the rifle out of Zaitsev’s hands and wrestled him to the ground. Zaitsev has admitted guilt.
