A resident of Kuzbass who returned from Ukrainian captivity has been detained on suspicion of murdering a 12-year-old girl, as reported on June 19 by the 'Siberian Express' and 'Sibir.Realii' media outlets.
The body of the 12-year-old girl was found in a well in the town of Topki, Kemerovo Oblast, on June 19. Volunteers and police officers had searched for her for over 24 hours.
The child’s body showed signs of violence. On the same day, investigators detained 49-year-old Andrey Bykov, a resident of the village of Maly Korchugan. 'Siberian Express' and 'Sibir.Realii' discovered that his namesake had been convicted of serious crimes six times.
In 2018, Bykov was released after serving another prison term. A month later, he strangled a neighbor following a conflict and buried her body. The court sentenced Bykov to 13.5 years in a high-security colony. Previously, he had been found guilty of robbery, threatening murder, involving a child in a crime, and inflicting grievous bodily harm resulting in death.
Andrey Bykov was on the list of military personnel released from captivity in Ukraine in 2024, published by the 'Storm Z' channel. Journalists found a YouTube video revealing that Bykov was recruited into 'Storm Z,' a division of the Ministry of Defense, from a penal colony in Kemerovo. In the video, Bykov stated that he surrendered to the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Oblast.