Nikolai Ogolobyak was jailed in July 2010 and meant to remain in prison till 2030.
A man in Russia, who confessed to being a member of a Satanic cult and was serving 20-year prison sentence for killing four teenagers for a “ritual”, has been freed. According to Newsweek, Nikolai Ogolobyak has been pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin in exchange for his participation in the war in Ukraine. He was sentenced in July 2010 on charges of murder, robbery, and desecrating a dead body, the outlet further said. There are also claims that members of the cult ate their victims’ organs at Ogolobyak’s apartment, according to court document cited by Russian outlet 76.ru.
One of the members of the cult was named “Hitler”, the court documents further said.
Since the start of the Ukraine war in February last year, Russia has been recruiting extensively from prisons to assist its forces.
Ogolobyak’s father told the Russian news outlet that the 33-year-old served with Russia’s “Storm Z” unit and is now at home.
“This is true. He served there for six months in Storm Z. After being wounded, he is disabled. He is walking, but the wound was serious,” Ogolobyak’s father said, adding that it is unlikely that he will be sent to fight in Ukraine again due to his injuries.
Ogolobyak was meant to remain in the prison until 2030.
During the trial, he was described by prosecutors as the “warrior” of the group. The prosecutors said his victims included a young couple who were brutally attacked. Prosecutors claimed that Ogolobyak “counted the blows out loud” as the man was killed. “He counted until he hit 666,” prosecutor Yelena Smirnova was quoted saying by 76.ru.
A number of pardoned convicts have been reported to have committed new crimes after returning from Ukraine.
According to leading prisoner’s rights activist Olga Romanova, thousands of ex-convicts have already returned to civil life.