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From Russia with fear - a podcast about the most resonant crimes in modern Russia. A gang of satanic cannibals from Yaroslavl, a cannibal from Sakhalin, the Skopinsky maniac and his new crimes after his release, how the trial of the flayer in the case of Vera Pletneva ended. Our journalists will also talk about repeat offenders who were recruited for a special operation, fought at the front, received a pardon and committed new crimes in their hometowns. Residents across the country are horrified by their crimes.
Listen to know the whole truth about criminal Russia.
Listen to know the whole truth about criminal Russia.
129 Episodes
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Russia is facing a surge in violent crime — the worst in more than a decade. Authorities admit that one of the key factors is the war and the return of fighters from the front, many of whom were previously convicted criminals released from prison in exchange for military service. In this episode, we examine some of the most shocking cases: a veteran who killed his pregnant girlfriend, a former Wagner mercenary who murdered three acquaintances with a crowbar, and the brutal rape and murder of an eleven-year-old girl by a pardoned fighter. We also tell the story of an elderly woman beaten to death during a robbery by another returning combatant. Lawyers and criminologists warn that the country may only be seeing the beginning of a much larger wave of violence. As thousands more fighters return home, Russia is confronting a disturbing question: what happens when men shaped by war and protected by pardons come back into civilian life?
Vladimir Seliverstov spent nearly 40 years in prison for brutal murders — yet he kept being released. Each time he returned to his village, someone else died. In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we tell the shocking story of a serial killer who mutilated his victims, cut off fingers and lips, and terrified an entire community. Why did the Russian justice system repeatedly allow a man responsible for at least nine deaths to walk free? And how many lives could have been saved if he had received life imprisonment earlier?
In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we examine the shocking murder of seven-year-old Amelia in Sochi. Igor Savvateev — a previously convicted criminal and participant in the war in Ukraine — was found guilty of beating the child to death with a leather belt. Investigators say the abuse lasted for months and included brutal beatings and cigarette burns. Even more disturbing, Amelia’s mother allegedly waited nearly a week before calling an ambulance as the girl slowly died from her injuries. Neighbors had repeatedly reported screaming and suspected violence, and child protection services had visited the apartment — yet nothing stopped the tragedy. Two years later, a jury finally delivered its verdict, but for Amelia’s family the question remains: how could so many warning signs be ignored before it was too late?
n this episode of From Russia with Fear, we tell the tragic story of Olga Ponomareva, a woman from Bashkortostan who died after a brutal attack by her partner, Arthur Matveev. What started as an online romance slowly turned into years of jealousy, violence, and fear. Despite repeated abuse and several attempts to seek help, Olga continued to believe her partner would change.
But one violent outburst ended in tragedy. After beating Olga so severely that her internal organs ruptured, Matveev refused to call an ambulance. For three days she lay dying while he watched and did nothing. By the time doctors arrived, it was too late. Olga fell into a coma and later died in hospital, leaving behind two young children.
Investigators later charged Matveev with causing grievous bodily harm that led to death. In court he tried to claim the injuries were accidental and even asked for house arrest. The judge refused.
This episode explores the deadly cycle of domestic abuse, the warning signs that were ignored, and the devastating consequences when violence inside the home goes unchecked.
A dispute inside a communal apartment in Saint Petersburg turns into a chilling murder plot. School accountant Galina Lysenko allegedly hired a homeless man to kill her neighbor Tatiana Tanik over a long-running housing conflict. But the supposed hitman chose to go to the police instead. In this episode, we explore how property disputes inside Russia’s communal apartments can escalate into violence — and how another pensioner in the Leningrad region tried a similar plan, only to be caught in a police sting operation. Two murder plots, two communal apartments, and one disturbing question: how far will people go for a few square meters of property?
In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we tell the story of two elderly pensioners who say they are living in constant fear inside their own apartment. Their son-in-law, Alexey Vasilevich, was once convicted of murder, later received a presidential pardon, and fought in the war as a Wagner mercenary. After returning from the front, he obtained a share of the family apartment and, according to the pensioners, began threatening and terrorizing them.
Igor Tedeev, who suffers from cancer, and his wife now hide in a small bedroom of their two-room apartment to avoid conflict. The couple say the man insults them, threatens violence, and has already been convicted once for beating his own wife. Police visits and complaints have not changed the situation, and criminal cases are repeatedly refused due to “lack of evidence.”
The pensioners say they even considered moving to a nursing home to escape the danger, but medical needs and high costs made that impossible. Now they remain trapped in the same apartment with a man they believe capable of violence at any moment.
This episode explores how pardoned convicts who fought in the war sometimes return home with a sense of impunity — and how families and neighbors can become the next victims.
In this episode of From Russia with Fear, two shocking crimes reveal the darker reality of violence and impunity in modern Russia. In Sverdlovsk region, a repeat offender murders his ex-wife — a nurse and mother of six daughters — inside the hospital where she worked. In Kemerovo region, businessman Alexey Mukharev kills a married couple to avoid repaying a debt that grew to five million rubles. The accused killer now hopes to escape prison by volunteering for the war. The episode explores the crimes, the victims, and the growing controversy around the mass recruitment of prisoners for military service.
A shocking medical fraud case has emerged in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region. Doctors from a state hospital are accused of targeting elderly patients, convincing them they were about to lose their eyesight, and pushing them into expensive “urgent” surgeries at a private clinic. Many of those operations were unnecessary — and some patients lost their vision instead of saving it. At the center of the case is ophthalmologist Tatyana Sokolova, owner of the Vision Protection Center and head of the ophthalmology department at City Hospital No. 33. Investigators believe she and her father, hospital chief doctor Pavel Zubeev, created a system that redirected frightened pensioners from public clinics to their private operating rooms. Over several years, hundreds of elderly people were reportedly persuaded to undergo costly procedures that sometimes ended in blindness and serious complications. Police say large sums of cash — about 50 million rubles — were found during searches. Now more victims are coming forward, telling similar stories about diagnoses, pressure to operate immediately, and devastating consequences. This episode explores how trust in doctors was exploited, how the alleged scheme worked, and why many victims are still fighting for justice.
A brutal double murder in the Kemerovo region has shocked the local community. Alexey Mukhaev, a former convict and SVO veteran, killed a teacher and her husband over a debt dispute. After the murders, Mukhaev tried to cover his tracks, but his efforts failed. As the investigation unfolds, questions arise about the recruitment of criminals for the Special Military Operation and the justice system that allowed Mukhaev to escape prison once before. This case reveals the chilling consequences of violence, greed, and a broken system.
In this shocking episode of From Russia with Fear, we investigate two brutal domestic murders that reveal a disturbing trend. In Kazan, Dinar Mingaliev strangled his wife Dina Grigorieva and nearly killed their three-year-old son, breaking both of the child’s arms. In Volgograd, former sailor Sergey Orlov shot and dismembered his ex-wife Galina over a minor domestic argument. Both men, after committing horrific crimes, expressed a desire to avoid prison by signing military contracts and going to the front.
Why are accused killers asking for war instead of serving time? How does the system allow such requests before sentencing? And what message does this send to victims of domestic violence across Russia?
This episode explores the violence, the legal loopholes, and the growing concern that bloodshed on the battlefield is being presented as redemption for bloodshed at home.
In Syktyvkar, seven members of an organized criminal group were sentenced for large-scale fraud after posing as gas service workers and deceiving more than 2,000 residents — mostly elderly people. Wearing fake uniforms and showing forged IDs, they pressured victims into replacing perfectly working gas equipment with cheap parts, sometimes even creating gas leaks to frighten them. Investigators warned that their actions could have led to a deadly explosion, similar to the 2023 tragedy in Novosibirsk that killed 15 people. In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we examine how fear became a business model — and how close the Komi Republic came to catastrophe.
A 24-year-old SVO veteran from Kabardino-Balkaria was sentenced to 15 years for the rape and murder of 86-year-old Nina Selezneva in Nalchik. The court rejected claims of insanity and found him fully responsible for a crime marked by extreme brutality. But the story does not end with the verdict. As more former convicts and war veterans return home, journalists report over a thousand civilians killed or injured. In this episode, we examine the case of Rustam Nogmov and the wider pattern of violent crimes linked to returning SVO participants.
In Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod region, an elderly woman who was tortured for days by teenagers has died from her injuries. The attackers filmed more than 50 videos of the abuse, beating her with bats, shaving her head, and locking her inside her own home. Investigators later revealed that an adult woman allegedly encouraged the crime in order to seize the victim’s house.
In Ufa, a teenage gang calling itself “OPG Eighth of March” is on trial after terrorizing schoolchildren for years. One of their victims, 16-year-old Tikhon, suffered a broken spine after a brutal beating and may remain disabled for life. Authorities have reclassified the case as robbery, while other victims remain afraid to testify.
Two cities. Two horrifying cases. One growing pattern of youth violence filmed for social media — and a system that failed to stop it.
In Nizhny Novgorod, pensioner Andrey Rumyantsev believed a neighborhood boy had vandalized his car. Without evidence, he grabbed a shovel handle, attacked 10-year-old Makar Karpov on a playground, shattered his leg, and dragged him away while other children screamed. The boy was innocent. Doctors say he may never return to sports. Prosecutors demanded 15 years in prison — but the court gave Rumyantsev a suspended sentence. In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we examine violent self-justice, generational trauma used as an excuse, and a verdict that left a family fighting for real accountability.
A shocking knife attack in Chelyabinsk has left a woman fighting for her life. The attacker — 60-year-old Alexander Kondakov, a previously convicted man who was pardoned after serving in the Special Military Operation — tried to stab his partner to death in front of neighbors and her children. Surveillance cameras captured the brutal assault. This case raises serious questions about the growing number of former prisoners returning from the front lines and committing new violent crimes. In this episode, we break down what happened, who Alexander Kondakov is, and what the statistics reveal about rising violence linked to pardoned ex-convict soldiers.
A 13-year-old student stabbed his classmate inside a school in Alexandrovsk, Perm region, leaving the victim in critical condition. Investigators say the attack may have followed a personal conflict, possibly linked to an argument after a computer game. The teenager was disarmed by teachers and detained. But this is not an isolated case. Since the beginning of 2026, at least seven attacks have taken place in Russian schools, including stabbings, shootings with pneumatic weapons, arson, and hammer assaults. In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we examine the latest incident, the alarming rise in school violence, the role of bullying, and how war rhetoric and the normalization of aggression may be shaping a new and dangerous reality for Russian children.
A 15-year-old schoolboy armed with a knife stormed a dormitory at Bashkir State Medical University in Ufa, targeting foreign students. Shouting nationalist slogans, he stabbed four students from India and injured two police officers before being detained. Investigators say the teenager held neo-Nazi views and even drew a swastika in blood on a dormitory wall.The attack comes amid a documented rise in hate-motivated violence in Russia, with human rights groups warning about increasing brutality and the growing involvement of minors in extremist movements. Experts say armed attacks on educational institutions are becoming disturbingly frequent.In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we examine what happened in Ufa, the broader trend of nationalist violence, and why foreign students say they have been facing mounting pressure and attacks long before this stabbing.
In Yakutia, a man twice convicted of murder and twice pardoned after joining the war has been detained again — now suspected of a fourth killing. Viktor Savinov, known locally as “the Butcher from Suntar,” built a long criminal record that includes theft, robbery, assault, and multiple murders. Each time he received a lengthy sentence, he avoided serving it in full by signing a military contract and going to the front.After fighting with Wagner and later under a Ministry of Defense contract, Savinov returned home — and, according to investigators, killed again. Among his victims was 64-year-old Valentina Fyodorova, a respected retired schoolteacher with 40 years of experience. Her family repeatedly warned authorities that Savinov was dangerous after he was released early once more.This episode explores the growing pattern critics call the “prison–front–freedom” cycle, where convicted criminals receive pardons in exchange for military service. Legal experts and psychologists warn that this system may be removing fear of punishment and increasing the risk of repeated violence.How many times can a convicted killer be given a second chance? And who pays the price each time?
On January 28, a former SVO serviceman in Irkutsk stormed into a charity foundation looking for his estranged wife. When he could not find her, he grabbed a completely unrelated woman and took her hostage. Despite police negotiations at the scene, the situation ended in murder.The victim — a mother of two and an orphan from Kemerovo — had just received her first apartment with the help of the “Obereg” foundation. That same day, she was supposed to be handed the keys to her new home. Instead, she became a random casualty of a violent domestic conflict.In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we examine the warning signs that were reportedly ignored, the history of abuse, and the broader issue of escalating violence involving men with combat backgrounds. This is a story about domestic terror, systemic failure, and a life destroyed on the brink of a fresh start.
In November 2024, a quiet farming community in the Krasnoyarsk region was shaken by a brutal crime. Former farm worker Igor Zykov, fired for negligence, returned to his employers’ property armed with a knife and a wooden log. Instead of attacking livestock as he later claimed he intended, he encountered 17-year-old Milena Sheveleva, who was alone on the farm while her parents were away. What followed was a violent assault and murder that investigators say was driven by long-held resentment and rage.Initially believed to be a tragic accident involving farm animals, the case took a dark turn when forensic evidence revealed signs of a struggle and human involvement. Zykov later confessed to attacking Milena, attempting to stage the scene to hide the crime, and destroying evidence. In court, he showed little remorse as he was sentenced to 23 years in a maximum-security colony and ordered to pay more than six million rubles in compensation to the victim’s family.This episode examines the timeline of the crime, the investigation that uncovered the truth, and the disturbing background of a man with a prior murder conviction who returned to violence.
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