Russian soldiers returning from the Ukrainian battlefield have murdered at least 107 people and seriously wounded another 100 since the invasion began in February 2022. This follows from statistics published by the Russian exile server Vjorstka.
From court and media records, the journalists found that Russian soldiers committed at least 84 violent crimes, 55 of which were classified as murder, resulting in 76 victims.
Another 18 people died as a result of grievous bodily harm, 11 people died as a result of traffic accidents caused by the soldiers. Two children then died as a result of the returnees encouraging them to use drugs.
Regarding injuries, in 70 cases soldiers were accused of “causing life-threatening injury”, 16 times it was attempted murder. Ten people were injured in traffic accidents, three were injured in inadequate defense by soldiers, and one person suffered serious injuries as a result of a soldier’s negligence.
The majority (91) of the soldiers responsible for these crimes were recruited from prison – granted amnesty for their participation in the war – and 84 others were volunteers or regular soldiers. Of the 45 amnestied soldiers who killed people after returning from Ukraine, 24 of them were repeat offenders before going to war.
