A wave of bloody crimes is rolling across Russia: women are burned alive, small children are beaten to death, men are raped. All of these atrocities have one thing in common – they were committed by Wagner mercenaries returning home from the war.
When the notorious Wagner troop ran out of fighters in the summer of 2022, Vladimir Putin resorted to a controversial measure: he allowed the then leader of the Kremlin mercenaries to be recruited in Russian prisons. Yevgeny Prigozhin favored a very specific contingent: multiple murderers, serial rapists and even cannibals. They were all pardoned by Putin so that they could be sent to war against Ukraine.
But in recent months, many of these Wagner fighters have returned to Russia – especially after Prigozhin sealed his own demise with his march on Moscow. And now exactly what many feared is happening: Back from the front, the convicted criminals, who escaped prison thanks to Putin’s mercy, are committing bloody crimes again.
Hardly a day goes by without frightening reports coming to the public.
Two women burned alive
A double murder shook the village of Ermakovskoye in early October. At 3:30 a.m. on October 3rd, a house there went up in flames. Two women burned alive. A few hours later, the police arrested the former Wagner mercenary Denis S..
During interrogation, he stated that he had gotten into an argument with his partner out of jealousy. After the scandal, she fled to her mother’s house. Local television reports Denis S.’s statement that he followed her there at night, doused the front door with gasoline and set it on fire.
According to official police records, the 32-year-old was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in a high-security colony in 2021 for intentional grievous bodily harm. According to investigators, Denis S. beat a man with a metal oven valve. However, in November 2022, after a pardon, he left prison early to go to war for the Wagner troop.
Four-year-old girl killed out of jealousy
On October 1, a Wagner fighter beat a four-year-old girl to death. He had recently returned to his home on vacation. However, on the first Sunday of October he got into an argument with his wife. 31-year-old Vladimir first hit his wife. He then attacked the four-year-old girl – her daughter from her first marriage. The reason for the outburst of anger in this case was also jealousy: not of a man, but of the little girl. The Wagner mercenary accused his wife of preferring their daughter outright and neglecting their children instead.
The mother managed to call an ambulance. At 6 p.m. that Sunday evening, police officers and doctors arrived at the family’s apartment. The man was arrested. He did not resist and admitted causing grievous bodily harm to his wife and child. The girl died on site from her injuries.
“I often saw my neighbor in the children’s playground. The whole house knew that her husband was in the service of the Wagner troupe,” a neighbor told the Russian newspaper after the incident. “We were terribly worried about her – after all, she is the mother of many children. He signed the contract because of the good salary. Where else can you earn so much money in Lipetsk? He wanted to help his family, buy an apartment. During the four “For the months that he was in the combat zone, he changed a lot. I preferred not to meet him. He posed a certain danger,” said the family’s neighbor.
Brother sets sleeping sister on fire
On October 28th, a former Wagner mercenary set his own sister on fire. In court, Oleg G. stated that they had drunk alcohol together and that he had gotten into an argument with her over “something trivial.” He waited until his sister was asleep, then doused her with gasoline and set her on fire. He then went to bed in another room. But the fire spread through the house and he burned his hands. The woman died on site. Oleg G. was taken to the hospital.
The public prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case for murder with particular cruelty. The former Wagner fighter admitted to setting his sister on fire. “She drove me crazy. It just happened,” when asked why he killed his sister.
The murder trial is not the first in the biography of Oleg G. Last year he was already convicted of murder. During a scuffle, he stabbed an acquaintance at least twelve times with a knife. But he didn’t stop there: he strangled the man with kettle wire. In March 2022 he was sentenced to eleven years in prison. But thanks to a pardon, the murderer was free again a year later.
Man stabs woman in front of children
Six months ago, another murder case shocked the city. At that time, a man killed his wife in front of their children. During a celebration, Alexander M. stabbed his wife in the heart; the 34-year-old died on the spot. The man had gone to the war against Ukraine as a volunteer and was on vacation at home.
Boyfriend abused with broom
A shocking violent crime occurred last August. After returning from the war zone, a Wagner mercenary met with an acquaintance. The men drank alcohol together and a conflict soon arose. The Wagner fighter stabbed his friend several times in the back. As the victim lay on the ground, the mercenary stripped him of his clothes and raped him with the handle of a broom.
The 43-year-old was recruited from a prison into the ranks of the Wagner troupe. Criminal proceedings have now been initiated against him for “intentional infliction of serious bodily harm” and rape.
In Russia the path to freedom is through war
These are just a few of the crimes committed by the Wagner mercenaries in the last few weeks. The path to freedom led all these men through war. Men with blood on their hands are released. It was only announced at the end of September that Putin had pardoned a man who murdered his girlfriend in 2018, dismembered her body and put her through the meat grinder. In 2019 he was sentenced to eleven years in prison.
However, in November 2022, he suddenly reported to his mother from the war zone in Ukraine. After six months in the ranks of the Wagner mercenaries, he had the letter of pardon in his hands and was now planning his future life in Russia. Meanwhile, everyone in his hometown hopes that he never returns.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
