Putin pardons two cannibals who joined Russia’s war in Ukraine – report

Vladimir Putin has reportedly pardoned two Russian men convicted of cannibalism after they deployed to the frontline in the war with Ukraine.

One of the men, Denis Gorin, was recruited into a private military company after signing a contract with the Russian ministry of defence but is known to have been convicted thrice for murdering at least four people between 2003 and 2022. He was also convicted of eating the remains of his victims along with his brother, reported Sibir Realii, a news outlet aligned with Radio Free Europe.

He is the 17th person convicted for murder to be pardoned by the Russian president between 2022 and 2023. “At the trial, he (Gorin) admitted that they ate the murdered man who was their acquaintance,” said his neighbour Dmitry Vladimirovich.

Investigators found out that Gorin first killed his victim and then washed and refrigerated the remains. After his last conviction in 2018, Gorin was sentenced to 22 years in prison but was pardoned in 2023 by the Russian president.

The neighbour added that Gorin was now free and admitted to a military hospital in the eastern Russian city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk due to a moderate injury. “He’s basically free, pardoned, and half his [prison] sentence has been wiped out. But I don’t think he’ll stay free for long. His victims’ relatives remember everything,” the neighbour said, adding that he feared Gorin might start killing again.

According to a new photo on Gorin’s social media profile on Odnoklassniki – a Russian platform – from a month ago, he is seen wearing a military uniform with the letter Z emblazoned on the sleeve, a pro-war symbol for conflicts in Ukraine and abroad widely used in Russia.

Another man, Nikolai Ogolobyak, was convicted of ritual murders, according to the Russian media reports.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2019 for murdering four teenagers and then consuming their remains. The 33-year-old man was reportedly pardoned this week by the Russian president for fighting in the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has regularly released and pardoned hardened criminals convicted for rapes, murders and other serious crimes to replenish its military personnel reserves fighting in Ukraine. Prominent PMC Wagner also released hundreds of convicts who joined its military operations in eastern Ukraine.