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Russian Man Sentenced For Falsifying War Record


CHEBOKSARY, Russia -- An 80-year-old man in Russia's Volga region has been given a suspended prison sentence for falsely claiming to be a World War II veteran, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports.

Boris Makarov, from the Shumerlya district in the Republic of Chuvashia, was found guilty on June 9 of forging documents and given a 1 1/2 year suspended sentence.

The court found Makarov guilty of obtaining false documents in 1946 identifying himself as a soldier who served in the Red Army between 1944 and 1946.

In 1962, Makarov registered at the local Military Commission. Since then, he has been receiving the state and social allowances and privileges due to a World War II veteran, including the right to purchase an automobile at a reduced price.

Investigators found out that between 1944 and 1946, Makarov was in fact employed by a local plant in the town of Shumerlya.

According to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, Makarov's crime cost the state treasury 500,000 rubles ($16,200).

The court took Makarov's age into account when pronouncing his sentence.
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