Russia | Explanation: Russians returning from the war have killed dozens of civilians

At least 107 Russian civilians have died in two years as a result of crimes committed by soldiers returning from the Ukrainian front. At least 76 have died murdered or killed by veterans, says a Russian investigative journalist Vjortska website recent report.

At least 55 fighters who have returned home have committed murders or killings, the majority of which, 36, belong to criminals recruited from prisons to the front. 44 civilians have died at their hands. The rest of the victims were killed by other conscripts, conscripts or mercenaries.

By last summer, the mercenary association Wagner recruited tens of thousands of prisoners from Russian prisons for the war by promising a good salary, a six-month contract and an amnesty after repatriation. Wagner's late manager Yevgeny Prigozhin told last June, that 32,000 former prisoners had already returned home from the front.

Of the 107 victims, 31 have died as a result of other crimes committed by veterans, for example in fights, traffic accidents or poisoned by drugs sold by veterans.

The dead in addition, Vjortska has found a hundred cases in which the violence or crimes of veterans have caused serious physical injury to the victim. The information comes from both the media and court documents.

The research group points out that the actual figures are certainly higher than those published now. The group has analyzed 134 public verdicts and found 16 cases in which the abuser was convicted of murder or attempted murder. There are thus a total of 92 solved murders, murders or attempted murders.

There were a total of 7,628 murders, killings and attempted murders registered by the Ministry of the Interior in the whole of Russia in 2022, says an opposition newspaper operating in exile Novaya Gazeta. The year was the first in 20 years when the number of murders increased in Russia.

There was an increase of almost 300 murders compared to the previous year, so the bloodshed of veterans has statistical significance. According to Novaja Gazeta, there is no need to look at last year's statistics, because the Ministry of the Interior obviously started falsifying the numbers last summer.

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The research group points out that the actual figures are certainly higher than those published now.

Vjortska according to the analysis, the courts have considered military service as a mitigating factor in several cases. This suggests that the group's count of 16 murders or attempted murders is severely undercounted.

It is worth noting that no firearms have been used in the example cases recorded in the report. A knife or a hacksaw was used, or the victim could have been strangled with an electric cord or, for example, kicked. Alcohol played a role in more than half of the cases.

The reasons for the violence could have been an old dispute, an unpaid debt or jealousy. In several cases, the reason is at least unclear and witnesses have told about a change in the character of the accused.

Many of the fatal incidents have started when the victim “disparaged or mocked” the armed forces or the Wagner Group.

Note a striking detail is that those convicted of abuse against minors have often gotten off with a light sentence, even though the Russian punishment scale is harsher than Finland's.

For example, a 32-year-old volunteer of the Ahmat battalion beat a teenager in a store so that he suffered brain damage. The defense claimed that the victim was complicit in the violence due to his “immoral behavior”.

“Immoral behavior” meant that the victim had a mohawk and a field suit. The perpetrator received a two-year sentence, which he will serve in a normal discipline prison.