Another Former Wagner Mercenary Recruited From Russian Prison Accused Of Murder
Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 03, 2023
By RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities
Another Former Wagner Mercenary Recruited From Russian Prison Accused Of Murder
A former fighter from the Wagner mercenary group who was recruited from prison last year has been accused of killing two women and burning their house down after returning home to Siberia from the ongoing war against Ukraine.
Police in the town of Yermakovskoye in the Krasnoyarsk region said on October 3 they had detained Denis Stepanov, who is suspected of setting a house on fire overnight. The two women were found dead inside.
According to the police, the motive for the crime is unknown, but witnesses said the suspect had openly threatened the women.
It's not the first instance of former Wagner mercenaries recruited from jails and prisons across Russia in 2022 being accused of committing serious crimes after completing tours of duty in Ukraine.
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Read more: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-wagner-inmates-murders/32621056.html
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Source: Daily Beast
Another Prisoner Freed for Wagner Burns Two Women Alive
A 68-year-old woman and her 35-year-old daughter were killed, according to local media.
Allison Quinn
News Editor
Published Oct. 03, 2023 7:33AM EDT
An ex-con freed from prison to take part in Russia’s war against Ukraine as a member of the notorious Wagner Group has returned from the battlefield and allegedly burned two women alive, the latest in a long line of grisly crimes to unfold on Russian territory after the high-risk prison-recruitment scheme.
The 32-year-old, identified in several reports as Denis Stepanov, is accused of deliberately torching a home in the Krasnoyarsk Krai to target two women, a 68-year-old woman and a 35-year-old woman, according to Baza. The younger woman, the 68-year-old’s daughter, was the former Wagner fighter’s girlfriend, according to Krasnoyarsk Online.
The two had reportedly argued before the inmate-turned-mercenary became enraged that his girlfriend didn’t want to go home with him; he is accused of setting the home ablaze as revenge.
Firefighters only found the women’s remains after extinguishing the massive fire. The suspect was in possession of a canister when police detained him, local reports say.
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Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/another-prisoner-freed-for-wagner-burns-two-women-alive
