Russia has seen a shocking rise in sex-related crimes after Vladimir Putin began pardoning perpetrators for their fight in his war against Ukraine.
The number of people convicted of child abuse has almost doubled in the past year, according to analyzes by independent We Can Explore media.
And the most heinous sex crimes against minors have increased by 77 percent, while violent sex crimes with aggravating circumstances have increased by half.
In the first half of this year, 147 people were convicted, compared to 97 the year before.
Returnees from Putin’s war against Ukraine are partly blamed for the rise in crime.
Wagner private army veteran Vladimir Aleksandrov, 40, a previously convicted rapist, allegedly raped and murdered 11-year-old schoolgirl, Nastya Yakina, in Nizhny Tagil.
Nastya Yakina, 11, (pictured) is believed to have been raped and murdered by an army veteran
Wagner private army veteran Vladimir Aleksandrov (pictured), 40, a previously convicted rapist, allegedly raped and murdered 11-year-old schoolgirl Nastya Yakina
Her distraught father Alexander Yakin, 42, had just lost his wife to cancer when his daughter was murdered.
After Nastya’s rape, Alexandrov dumped her body in a cellar in Nizhny Tagil, where her corpse was eaten by rats, it is alleged.
Alexandrov was released from prison to fight in Ukraine and was later pardoned by Putin after serving six months, when his remaining eight-year prison sentence was annulled.
War returnee Yury Gavrilov, 33, from Orenburg was also pardoned and released by the Kremlin.
He allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl to his flat and committed acts of ‘rape and torture’ during a two-hour ordeal.
Meanwhile, it was revealed today that Kremlin authorities have begun to drop criminal suspects if they agree to fight against Ukraine.
According to new reports, Putin wants to replenish troop losses along the front lines.
Under laws signed by the Russian president in June 2023, convicts were eligible for a pardon or for the remainder of their sentences to be expunged if they had volunteered to join the Kremlin’s war machine.
War returnee Yury Gavrilov (photo), 33, from Orenburg was also pardoned and released by the Kremlin
Gavrilov allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl to his flat and committed acts of ‘rape and torture’ during a two-hour ordeal
However, this new practice, which was formalized through legislation in March 2024, allows those accused of crimes to avoid prosecution by agreeing to serve on the front lines before being sentenced.
Both the prosecution and defense are now required to inform suspects of this option, with criminal cases suspended if they sign up.
Russian authorities’ attempts to divert criminal suspects to their military apparatus were exposed in a joint investigation by the BBC and Russian independent media outlet Mediazona.
They initially received a leaked recording of a Russian investigator telling the husband of a man facing a possible six-year prison sentence that “we will close the case” if her husband signed a military contract.
“We are seeing an unprecedented shift in the justice system,” Olga Romanova, director of the NGO Russia Behind Bars, told the BBC.
‘The police can now arrest a man over the body of someone he just killed. They put on the handcuffs and then the killer says, “Oh wait, I want to conduct a special military operation,” and they close the criminal case.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin points during the extended meeting of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia on October 23
Russian prisoners to be recruited by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin to fight in Ukraine in September 2022