A Russian man convicted of murder and released to fight in Ukraine has returned from the front line and killed another victim, but has now been released a second time, according to multiple reports and rights groups.
The news came after independent Russian media circulated a letter announcing the man’s release on August 19.
Ivan Rossomakin, 29, was originally sentenced to 14 years in a maximum security prison in September 2020 for murder and violent robbery, according to legal rights group Travumpunkt.
According to court records, Rossomakin committed his first murder in Kirov in October 2019, killing a woman during an argument while drunk.
During his first sentence, Rossomakin was recruited by the mercenary group Wagner, which received prisoners in September 2022, according to Travumpunkt.
The rights group said Rossomakin had returned to his hometown of Kirov after spending time on the front line.
A local court found Rossomakin guilty of second-degree murder after he returned to the country and entered the home of an 85-year-old woman in March 2023 with a knife, killing and raping her.
Rossomakin received a new sentence of 22 years in prison, while Travumpunkt said he had increased the sentence to 23 years.
But he was released a second time on August 19 after being recruited by the Russian Ministry of Defense, according to the document, which was reposted on Telegram by independent Russian media.
The BBC reported that the document was signed by a prison officer at the detention centre where Rossomakin was being held.
Travumpunkt, who represents the family of Rossomakin’s second murder victim, an 85-year-old woman, said on Monday that prison authorities had informed the family of Rossomakin’s release.
According to Travumpunkt, he is still legally obligated to pay 2 million rubles (about $22,000) to the victim’s family.
The group added that Rossomakin served less than six months of his 23-year sentence and was then deported back to Ukraine.
“My first reaction was horror,” Anna Pekareva, granddaughter of murdered woman Yulia Buskikh, told the BBC. “I have read the forensic report and I know what this person did to my grandmother. It is horrifying that he has been released again.”
Pekareva told the media she feared Rossomakin would take revenge on her family for seeking a life sentence.
The Kremlin and Russian Defense Ministry press teams did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.
Russia initially sent thousands of prisoners to fight in Ukraine through the Wagner Group, but the effort quickly slowed due to fears that the prisoners would be mistreated on the front line.
The Kremlin has pardoned some enlisted men who have demonstrated bravery or fought long enough, and Wagner argued in March 2023 that of the roughly 5,000 people pardoned, less than 1 percent have reoffended.
The Russian Ministry of Defense took over recruitment at Wagner prison in early 2023, and British intelligence estimates that around 10,000 prisoners signed up in April of that year alone.
Ukraine is also recruiting prisoners to fight against Russia, but it is not accepting those convicted of rape or multiple murders.
Both Kiev and Moscow are struggling to maintain the necessary manpower on the front lines as Ukraine cracks down on men trying to flee the fighting and the Kremlin continually raises pay bonuses for military volunteers.
