‘People like that should spend their lives behind bars’

A member of a Satanist gang serving 20 years in jail for his part in the brutal murder of four teenagers in 2008 was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin in recognition of his military service in Ukraine, it emerged on Tuesday.

Nikolay Ogolobyak, from the city of Yaroslavl, northeast of Moscow, hadn’t been due for release until 2030.

Requesting not to be named, a relative of Varvara Kuzmina, one of Ogolobyak’s victims, told Novaya Europe how she felt about Ogolobyak’s release and the recent spate of murderers being pardoned in exchange for military service in general.

“I was 9 years old when she was murdered. I wasn’t told any of the details, of course. Varya and I were pretty close. We grew up together. I was devastated when I heard she’d been killed.

When I got older, I looked into the details of the case. Picturing what had happened, I understood that some monsters had killed and dismembered Varya to amuse themselves.

I went to the scene of the crime and saw the wasteland. It was horrible to imagine someone you loved just lying there. Even all these years later, I still don’t like being in that part of town.

But a couple of days ago, I read that he was back in the city. I’m furious that he is trying to return to normal life, that he is alive. The people he killed are never coming back. The friends and relatives [of the victims] will carry this pain with them forever. I don’t think people change. People like that should spend their lives behind bars and never be set free. I’m scared for other people now. We don’t know what’s going on in this monster’s head.

I’m against convicted murderers being released after fighting in Ukraine. They’re even being called Russian heroes now, but what acts of heroism have they performed? A lot of people think they have atoned for their guilt, but that changes nothing. They’ll forever be marked by what they’ve done.”