April 29, 2024

Returning Home to Kill


Returning Home to Kill
Jail cell. The Russian Life files

On April 25, Vyorstka revealed that some 107 persons have been killed and 100 others have been gravely injured by soldiers returning to Russia from Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.

The Russian independent news outlet obtained these numbers after analyzing judicial records and news stories from the media.

According to Vyorstka, soldiers committed at least 84 crimes that led to casualties, including 54 murders with 76 victims. According to the publication, prisoners who were pardoned in exchange for military service were more likely to commit murder than other former soldiers. 18 deaths were recorded as cases of grievous bodily harm. Eleven people died as a result of 9 traffic violations. Two former soldiers who were ex-convicts supplied drugs to minors, resulting in two deaths. 

Research by Vyortska demonstrated that former prisoners who committed these crimes after returning home received sentences averaging 6- to 11-years, while other former soldiers received 7.5 to 10 years in prison. In cases of bodily harm resulting in death, former Wagner Group mercenaries were less likely to receive longer sentences.

Russian Life has previously reported on the concerning trend [also this story from our print magazine] of former prisoners who served in Ukraine returning home and killing. In Yakutsk, an ex-convict killed a 34-year-old man, as well as a 64-year-old woman who won "The Best Teacher in Russia" competition. Near Nizhny Novgorod, convicted murderer Oleg Grechko burned his sister alive upon returning from Ukraine.

Women's rights groups have simultaneously noted increased domestic violence cases from veterans, some of which have led to murder. In Nizhny Novgorod, Alexander Mamayev, a veteran who was not a former prisoner, killed his wife Yekaterina while his 6- and 7-year-olds were in the apartment. 

In January 2024, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree halting the pardoning of prisoners. Contracts now offer "conditional releases" and don't end until the war in Ukraine is over. 

You Might Also Like

  • February 10, 2024

"I Breathed a Sigh of Relief"

The war has increased cases of domestic abuse, yet in one instance things went in an entirely different direction.
A Brick in AWOL
  • April 16, 2024

A Brick in AWOL

In March 2024, Russian military courts began handing down about 34 sentences a day for unauthorized abandonment of military service.
Violence Comes Home, Too
  • April 22, 2023

Violence Comes Home, Too

A man from Nizhny Novgorod fought in Ukraine. When he returned to Russia, he killed his wife.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955