News Feed, Prisoners, Ukraine, Russian armed forces, Murder

Russian authorities launch manhunt after former inmate turned soldier accused of killing 2 women

by Nate Ostiller and The Kyiv Independent news desk August 30, 2024 4:10 PM 2 min read

A Russian policeman in the village of Kostrovo on June 10, 2018. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

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Authorities in Russia's Perm Oblast launched a manhunt on Aug. 30 for Artyom Buchin, a former inmate who was recruited to fight in Ukraine, who is accused of killing a 28-year-old woman and her seven-year-old daughter.

Buchin had previously been sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2023 for the rape and murder of a nurse but was reportedly released to fight in Ukraine.

Authorities said that the bodies of the woman and her daughter had been found showing signs of violent death in the town of Chusovoy. Buchin is suspected of murdering the two, and he has been added to a wanted list, with his photo and description distributed to local media.

Under Russian policies since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, both the Russian Defense Ministry and the Wagner Group have recruited prisoners to fight in Ukraine.

Under this procedure, former inmates are typically pardoned in exchange for military service.

The late Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in June 2023 that as many as 32,000 former prisoners had returned to Russia after fighting in Ukraine.

Buchin is not the first former inmate to return to Russia after fighting in Ukraine and be accused of committing new crimes.

Just two days before, a court in Perm sentenced Grigoriy Starikov, a former inmate and ex-Wagner soldier who had also fought in Ukraine, to life in prison after he was convicted of killing three people in 2023.

Authors: Nate Ostiller, The Kyiv Independent news desk

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