Alexey Khotin, Belarus-born Russian businessman and former owner of Yugra Bank, sentenced in March 2024 to nine years in prison for embezzlement of 23.6 billion rubles (more than 240 million dollars), announced his intention to “join the”, reports Kommersant.

At an appeal hearing, Khotin stressed that current Russian law allows him to go to war and asked the Moscow City Court to help speed up the process. He also requested that, in the event of refusal of deployment, the court either vacates his conviction and remands the case for a new trial or reduces his sentence.

Investigators say that between 2014 and 2017, Khotin and other defendants embezzled 23.6 billion rubles from Yugra Bank by making knowingly bad loans to three companies under his control. Khotin maintains his innocence.