No idea what exactly happened in your case, but I noticed civil/support units persisting in enemy cities or encampments as well: [NFP] - [1.0.5.11] GC / Support / Civil units stay in encampment or city when flipping independent | CivFanatics Forums
Thanks for the info, it's similar yes, but in this case I don't think there was any city flip involved, as the encampment belongs to the capital of Russia, I would have noticed it I think. (it's still there 40 turns later)