Russian officials confirmed the report and said he was being charged with desertion and the theft of his Kalashnikov assault rifle.

The soldier, Dmitry Artemyev, was shown on Georgia’s Rustavi-2 television saying that he had fled South Ossetia through a checkpoint in the border village of Perevi.

He said he had been mistreated by his commanders and planned to seek asylum in Georgia.

“They were beating me,” Artemyev said. “I know that another soldier escaped earlier from the Russian army and that he has good living conditions. I decided to follow his lead. I want to stay in Georgia.”

The investigative committee of Russian prosecutors confirmed that Aretemyev had left his post and said that he was being charged with crimes that carry a penalty of up to 17 years imprisonment.

“On the night of July 2, 2009, soldier Dmitry Artemyev, who was fulfilling his military service with a unit temporarily stationed in the city of Tskhinval in the Republic of South Ossetia, voluntarily left his post along with an AKS-74 rifle and 180 bullets,” it said in a statement.

The AKS-74 is a variant of the Kalashnikov assault rifle and is widely used in the Russian armed forces.

The statement said that Artemyev faced a charge of desertion with a weapon, which has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a separate accusation of arms theft, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

In January, Russian soldier Alexander Glukhov deserted his military unit in South Ossetia and sought asylum in Georgia. Glukhov also said he was deserting because of cruel treatment by his commanders and poor living conditions.