Russia has seen a surprising rise in the number of sex-related crimes after Vladimir Putin began pardoning criminals for fighting in his war against Ukraine.
The number of people convicted of child abuse has almost doubled in the last year, according to an analysis by the independent media We Can Explain.
And the most egregious sexual crimes against minors have increased by 77 percent and violent sexual crimes with aggravated circumstances have increased by half.
In the first half of the current year, 147 people were convicted, compared to 97 the previous year.
Returnees from Putin’s war against Ukraine have been partly blamed for the rise in crime.
Wagner’s private army veteran Vladimir Aleksandrov, 40, previously convicted rapist, allegedly raped and killed 11-year-old schoolgirl Nastya Yakina in Nizhny Tagil.
11-year-old Nastya Yakina (pictured) is believed to have been raped and murdered by an army veteran.
Wagner’s private army veteran Vladimir Aleksandrov (pictured), 40, a previously convicted rapist, allegedly raped and killed an 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 raping Nastya, Aleksandrov dumped her body in a basement in Nizhny Tagil, where her corpse was allegedly gnawed by rats.
Aleksandrov 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.
Yury Gavrilov, 33, from Orenburg, who returned to the war, was also pardoned and released by the Kremlin.
He allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl to his apartment and committed acts of “rape and torture” during a two-hour ordeal.
Meanwhile, it was revealed today that Kremlin authorities have begun offering criminal suspects to drop charges if they agree to fight against Ukraine.
Putin is looking to replenish troop losses on the front, according to new reports.
Under laws enacted by the Russian president in June 2023, convicts were entitled to be pardoned or have the remainder of their sentences vacated if they volunteered to participate in the Kremlin’s war machine.
Yury Gavrilov (pictured), 33, from Orenburg, who returned to the war, was also pardoned and released by the Kremlin.
Gavrilov allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl to his apartment and committed acts of “rape and torture” during a two-hour ordeal.
However, this new practice, formalized by legislation in March 2024, allows people accused of crimes to avoid prosecution by agreeing to serve on the front line before being convicted.
Now both prosecution and defense attorneys must inform suspects of this option, and criminal cases are suspended if they enlist.
Efforts by Russian authorities to funnel criminal suspects into their military apparatus were uncovered in a joint investigation between the BBC and independent Russian media Mediazona.
They initially received a leaked recording of a Russian investigator telling the wife 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 change in the legal system,” Olga Romanova, director of the NGO Russia Behind Bars, told the BBC.
‘The police can now catch a man over the dead body of someone he has just killed. They tighten the handcuffs and then the killer says, “Oh, wait, I want to go on a special military operation,” and they close the criminal case.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during the expanded format meeting of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 23.
Russian prisoners recruited to fight in Ukraine by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in September 2022