A former Russian soldier who was convicted of setting a nightclub on fire and killing 13 people has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Media in Russia reported that the sentence was handed down Thursday, March 14, Knewz.com has learned.
The soldier was one of many who served in Ukraine, only to come home and commit crimes.
Many of those sent to prison were previously there before being recruited to fight in the war in Ukraine. Many of them were imprisoned for serious crimes.
Stanislav Ionkin, 23, was involved in a drunken fight in November 2022 in the city of Kostroma approximately 200 miles from Moscow when he fired shots from a flare gun inside that set the building on fire, according to Reuters.
Russian media reported that Ionkin’s attorney argued that he was suffering from a concussion sustained in Ukraine that may have contributed to his behavior.
“In a difficult situation, Ionkin gets lost and is prone to implementing ill-considered decisions, which is confirmed by a psychological and psychiatric examination,” independent news outlet Mediazona cited his lawyer as stating.
According to Telegram channel Baza, which is connected to Russia’s security services, Ionkin was injured by shelling in Ukraine before returning to Russia in August 2022 to spend time in a Russian hospital before being sent on sick leave.
The Moscow court also stripped Ionkin of a medal he earned for courage and his rank of guard sergeant.
Ionkin was also ordered to pay $158,000 in civil claims to the victims’ families and nearly $500,000 to the nightclub and owner.
Ionkin’s case is by no means isolated.
Coming Home, Committing Crime
As Knewz.com reported on February 29, pedophiles and murderers who were once prisoners in Russia returned to the country after six months fighting against Ukraine are now killing their fellow civilians with impunity.
The hardened criminals were released from prison beginning in mid-2022 to bolster depleted troops in the war against Ukraine.
The released prisoners were told that if they served six months in the army, they would be given 100,000 rubles ($1,000), and be pardoned, the Daily Mail reported.
They were initially recruited by paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prighozon, head of mercenary organization The Wagner Group. Prighozin attempted to stage a coup against the Kremlin in June 2023 and was later killed in a plane crash in August 2023.
However, the Russian Ministry of Defense also approved the move and continued the recruitment program. The belief was that many of the convicts would die on the front lines in Ukraine.
Prigozhin initially recruited 49,000 prisoners and most were used as cannon fodder. Those who attempted to escape or refused orders were executed. Following their six-month contracts, Russia claimed only 32,000 of them returned. The Mail reported that according to the BBC, that number was probably closer to 20,000.
Many of those who have returned also survived incredibly harsh conditions on the front lines after being recruited in April 2023 to Putin’s newly formed Storm-Z units. Storm-Z was composed of convicted criminals and soldiers that had disobeyed orders. They underwent just 10 to 15 days of training before being sent to the front lines to bolster exhausted soldiers.
Now that some of these convicted criminals have safely returned home, they are reportedly terrorizing their own citizens. The Mail reported that on Wednesday, February 28, one of those men, a convicted rapist, was arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Additional reports out of Russia said another freed rapist is back in prison after raping 10- and 12-year-old girls the day after he returned from Ukraine. He threatened the girls that he would blow them up with a grenade if they did not comply.
Other reported incidents include a 44-year-old platoon commander who, after returning from Ukraine, was arrested on suspicion of stabbing his wife to death in front of his 7- and 8-year-old sons.
In August 2023, BBC News reported it had learned of 20 cases of returned prisoners from that had committed serious offenses.
The post Ex-Russian Soldier Fired Flare Gun Into Nightclub, Sparking Blaze That Killed 13: Court Gives Him 20 Years in Prison appeared first on Knewz.
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Author: David Wetzel
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