10 Brutal Russian Prisoners Released By Vladimir Putin To Fight In Ukraine

10 - Vladislav Kanyus

In January 2020, in the city of Kemerovo, Vladislav Kanyus murdered his 23-year-old ex-girlfriend after she went to Kanyus’s apartment to collect her belongings.

Neighbors heard her screams and called the police at least seven times, but officers failed to respond and the neighbors eventually broke the door down themselves, finding her deceased.

In July 2022, Kanyus was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum-security penal colony for murder committed with "particular cruelty."

Despite his 17-year sentence, Kanyus was released from prison less than a year later and in early 2023, he was recruited to fight in Ukraine, joining either the Wagner Group or a similar penal unit.

Kanyus was granted a presidential pardon by Vladimir Putin in November 2023 and this expunged his criminal record and relieved him of his prison sentence in recognition of his military service.

Kanyus had also been ordered to pay 4 million rubles in damages to the victim's family and in late 2023, Kanyus reportedly posted photos of himself on social media, appearing to be in good health and living as a free man.

9 - Ivan Rossomakhin

In 2020, Rossomakhin was sentenced to 14-years in a high-security penal colony for murder, but sometime in 2022, he was recruited from prison by the Wagner Group to fight in the invasion of Ukraine.

After serving his six-month contract, he was granted a presidential pardon and released in the spring of 2023, but this was far from the end of his crimes.

In March 2023, Rossomakhin returned to his native village of Novy Burets in the Kirov region and his return caused immediate panic among residents.

Residents reported him wandering the streets drunk, brandishing an axe and a pitchfork while making death threats to locals with a local police chief holding a town hall meeting to address the residents' fears.

On March 29th, 2023, just days after his return, 85-year-old pensioner Yulia Buyskikh was found murdered in her home where she had been killed with a weapon similar to the one Rossomakhin had been seen brandishing.

Rossomakhin confessed to the crime, and, in April 2024, a court in the Kirov region sentenced him to 23-years in a high-security colony for murder and other crimes against the towns residents.

Despite the severity of his 23-year sentence, Rossomakhin did not remain in prison for long and reports state that he was once again released after signing a new contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense.

He was sent back to the front lines in Ukraine and his release sparked significant outrage from the victim's granddaughter, who described the situation as "monstrous."

8 - Vadim Krasikov

Known by the alias Vadim Sokolov, on August 23, 2019, Krasikov shot and killed Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent, in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in Berlin.

After the shooting, Krasikov was seen throwing a wig, a bicycle, and a handgun into the Spree River. Witnesses alerted the police, and he was apprehended nearby while trying to escape on an electric scooter.

He initially claimed to be a tourist, but investigative groups and German authorities identified him as a high-ranking Russian operative.

In December 2021, a Berlin court sentenced Krasikov to life imprisonment with the judge describing the murder as an act of state-ordered terrorism.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Krasikov had served alongside members of Vladimir Putin’s personal security detail.

Media reports suggest that Krasikov, later went to fight on the frontlines and due to his extraordinary abilities on the battlefield, has not been heard from since.

7 - Georgiy Siukayev

Siukayev was a convicted murderer with some reports indicating that he was serving time for a murder committed in 2014, while others state he had been imprisoned for killing a military commander in the Donbas in the mid-2010s.

Recruited from a Russian prison in the autumn of 2022 by the Wagner Group to fight in the war, he completed his six-month contract and was granted a pardon, later returned to his home city on March 27th, 2023.

On April 17, 2023, less than a month after his return, Siukayev was involved in a fatal incident in the city center, a crime that was later seen as a murder.

The victim was 38-year-old Soslan Valiyev, known locally by the nickname "Tsugri." Valiyev was a well-known local figure with developmental disabilities and described by residents and former regional presidents as "harmless" and "kind."

CCTV and mobile phone footage circulated on Telegram showed a man, later identified as Siukayev, chasing and kicking the victim before stabbing him.

Arrested shortly after the murder, the case caused significant public outrage in South Ossetia due to Valiyev's status as a beloved community figure, but Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, publicly defended him.

He claimed that Siukayev had intervened to protect bystanders whom Valiyev was allegedly "harassing" and "insulting." Prigozhin's press service described the victim as a "lunatic" who was frequently inebriated.

6 - Azamat Iskaliyev

Another high-profile instance of a Russian convict who was pardoned to fight in Ukraine and later became involved in a violent crime upon his return, Azamat had been serving a lengthy prison sentence for murder.

Recruited by Wagner, he served his six-month contract on the front lines and was later granted a presidential pardon in 2023, which cleared his previous criminal record and allowed him to return to civilian life.

Shortly after returning to his home region of Volgograd in the spring of 2023, Iskaliyev was involved in a new violent incident.

He was arrested and charged with assault or attempted murder after a conflict with a relative or acquaintance with reports suggesting he attacked his victim with a knife, inflicting serious injuries.

His case was widely reported in Russian and international media as part of a growing trend of "re-offending" by pardoned convicts and he is currently awaiting trial in a penal colony.

5 - Igor Sofonov

Sofonov was a repeat offender with a history of convictions for theft, robbery, and attempted murder, but was pardoned to fight in Ukraine and subsequently accused of committing a mass murder upon his return.

In 2022, while serving a sentence at the Obukhovo prison in St. Petersburg, he was recruited by the Wagner Group to join the invasion and served for several months where he reportedly went by the call sign "Karel."

Eventually wounded in combat, he was granted a presidential pardon and released from his remaining prison sentence in the spring of 2023.

On the night of August 1st, 2023, a brutal mass killing occured with two separate wooden houses were set on fire and police finding the bodies of six people, five men and one woman, who had been attacked.

Sofonov and another man, Maksim Bochkaryov, also a repeat offender whom Sofonov had met in prison, were arrested the same day on suspicion of murder and arson.

When questioned by reporters, he confirmed his participation in the "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine and was placed in pre-trial detention where he remains to this day, awaiting sentencing for multiple counts of murder and arson.

4 - Denis Gorin

A resident of Aniva, Sakhalin Oblast, Denis Gorin was convicted of multiple murders over a decade, bieng sentenced to nearly 10- years for a 2002 murder and after his release, committing further murders.

In one 2010 incident, he killed an acquaintance and in 2011 and 2012, he and his brother were involved in additional fatal stabbings.

After being caught and confessing, Gorin was sentenced to 22 years in a high-security penal colony for his role in at least four murders.

While serving his 22-year sentence, Gorin was recruited to fight in Ukraine and joined a Storm-Z unit in early 2023.

In late 2023, reports emerged that Gorin had been wounded in combat. Following his injury, he was granted a presidential pardon by Vladimir Putin, effectively wiping out the remainder of his prison sentence.

According to subsequent reports and public records, Denis Gorin returned to the front lines after his recovery for reasons unknown and was last seen in a military hospital.

3 - Kirill Cheplygin

Arrested and charged with the murder of his ex-wifes new husband, Kirill Cheplygin caused chaos on a Sunday morning in the Siberian city of Achinsk.

Yekaterina Polyanskaya could only watch on as he attacked her husband, Vyachelsav Komarenko and then her, with both attacks caught on CCTV videos and aired by a local media outlets

While awaiting trial, Cheplygin reportedly applied from prison to go to fight in Ukraine to avoid a jail term, a common path for those incarcerated in Russia.

Just days after his arrest, he secured permission to join Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine instead of facing a 20-year sentence.

Many people in the area where he committed his crimes tried in vain to stop the transfer, setting up a petition out of fear that he may one day return to finish what he started.

Ekaterina’s mother now lives in fear for the safety of her five-year-old granddaughter and Yekaterina, who may one day become targets if Cheplygin ever returns.

2 - Nikolai Ogolobyak

In 2010, Ogolobyak was sentenced to 20 years in a high-security penal colony after he was identified as being part of a "Satanic" sect along with a group of eight teenagers in Yaroslavl.

In the summer of 2008, the group killed four teenagers during their rituals and were found guilty, with Ogolobyak receiving the longest sentence of the group because he was the only one of legal age at the time of the crimes.

In May 2023, while serving his sentence, Ogolobyak joined a Storm-Z unit, a military formation primarily composed of prisoners recruited by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

He served for six months on the front lines in Ukraine before being pardoned by President Vladimir Putin in exchange for his military service in November 2023.

There are no reports of Ogolobyak committing further crimes on his return to the town where he was jailed and he is reportedly recovering from an injury that he sustained on the battlefield.

1 - Dmitriy Kurashov

Dmitry Kurashov, using the call sign "Stalker," was a rifleman in the Storm-V assault unit of Russia’s 127th Motorized Rifle Division.

This unit was primarily composed of convicts who were recruited from Russian prisons with the promise of amnesty in exchange for military service.

Before his deployment, Kurashov was serving a sentence for theft in Russia and joined the military in November 2023, later claiming he believed he would be repairing equipment rather than participating in active assaults.

On January 6th, 2024, near the village of Pryiutne in the Zaporizhzhia region, a Ukrainian soldier, Vitalii Hodniuk, emerged from a dugout without weapons.

Hodniuk followed orders to raise his hands and kneel, clearly indicating his surrender but Kurashov fired at least three shots with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, killing Hodniuk at point-blank range.

Shortly after the execution, Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive, recapturing the position and taking Kurashov and four other Russian soldiers prisoner.

The trial was unique because it relied heavily on the testimony of Kurashov’s own fellow unit members who were also in Ukrainian custody.

Originally pleading guilty but refusing to provide detailed testimony, Kurashov later claimed a different soldier was responsible but was sentenced to life Imprisonment on November 6th 2024.

Thanks for watching. On the left you can check out the top 10 worst prisoners inside brutal Russian prisons and on the right is the top 50 most dangerous female criminals ion the world, we will see you in the next video.