Russian man sentenced to 20 years for shooting policeman who tried to detain his deserter son

A Russian court has sentenced a 63-year-old man to 20 years in prison for shooting a military police officer dead as he tried to stop the officer from detaining his son, an army deserter.

Alexey Zaitsev, a resident of the village of Shcherbinino in Russia’s Lipetsk region, was found guilty of illegally possessing explosives and ammunition, threatening violence against a government official, and making an attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer, independent outlet Mediazona reported on Thursday, citing court materials.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court fined Zaitsev 40,000 rubles (€450) and ordered him to pay 2 million rubles (€22,400) in compensation for moral damages to the victim’s family.

According to the court’s account, on 19 March 2026 military police officers arrived at Zaitsev’s home to detain his son, who had deserted his unit. The son was the first to come out of the house, carrying a gun. He later handed the weapon to his father, who began threatening the officers. As the officers reportedly retreated toward their vehicle, Zaitsev opened fire, shooting one of them in the back. The officer died at the scene.

A former neighbour said Alexey had become withdrawn and stopped leaving the remote village after his wife’s death. The son is his only child. At the time of his arrest, Zaitsev managed to tell a journalist that his son had “served honestly for a year and a half under contract and came home, but was harassed and repeatedly pressured to return to service.”

In late June, Zaitsev’s son was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of desertion and resisting a commanding officer during mobilisation.