A military commander in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka region has been fined for reprimanding a soldier who had written a letter to President Vladimir Putin, TASS news agency reported Thursday.
The military commander, whose identity has not been disclosed, ordered that disciplinary actions should be taken against one of his subordinates after the latter sent a letter to the president, despite the fact that the charter of the armed forces does not forbid servicemen from appealing to government officials.
The report did not elaborate on the content of the soldier's letter to Putin.
The commander was fined 2,000 rubles ($36) after he refused to remove the order against the soldier, TASS reported. Bailiffs were forced to take the amount directly from the commander's bank account after he refused to pay up, a measure that cost him an extra 1,000 rubles ($18) in transaction fees.
Last year, President Vladimir Putin received 987,775 appeals, 110,046 requests for information and 114,433 messages from both Russian citizens and foreigners, according to the Kremlin's official website.