In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we follow three brutal killers who all avoided real punishment the same way — by signing a military contract and going to the war zone instead of serving long prison terms. In Sverdlovsk region, businessman Rafis Khuzin stabbed his wife, peeled skin from her body and buried her in the garden, then left a pre-trial cell for the army. In Serov, educated ex-lawyer Alexander Gook murdered a woman and her six-year-old son, dismembered the body and still escaped a potential life sentence through a contract. In Ivanovo region, sadistic wife-killer Mikhail Lobakov tortured his young spouse to death, but less than a year after sentencing was sent to fight in Ukraine and later declared a “hero.” Using real numbers from Russian lawyers, we explore how tens of thousands of serious criminal cases are being frozen or closed because their defendants go to SVO — and what it means when war becomes a door out of prison.
In this episode of From Russia with Fear, we follow three brutal killers who all avoided real punishment the same way — by signing a military contract and going to the war zone instead of serving long prison terms. In Sverdlovsk region, businessman Rafis Khuzin stabbed his wife, peeled skin from her body and buried her in the garden, then left a pre-trial cell for the army. In Serov, educated ex-lawyer Alexander Gook murdered a woman and her six-year-old son, dismembered the body and still escaped a potential life sentence through a contract. In Ivanovo region, sadistic wife-killer Mikhail Lobakov tortured his young spouse to death, but less than a year after sentencing was sent to fight in Ukraine and later declared a “hero.” Using real numbers from Russian lawyers, we explore how tens of thousands of serious criminal cases are being frozen or closed because their defendants go to SVO — and what it means when war becomes a door out of prison.