Georgi Povilayko, a resident of Primorye previously sentenced to 24 years for raping and murdering a woman, has been released after 3 months of fighting in Ukraine, as reported by VL.ru on January 23.
Vladimir Putin pardoned Georgi Povilayko for his participation in the war. He returned home three months after being deployed to the frontlines, and Vladivostok residents spotted him in the city, capturing a photo of him entering a house.
"Neighbors call and ask me, how is it possible? He is walking around all smug! He signed a military service contract in October 2023. Contracts are typically for six months, and I have no idea why he is back home after only three. I overheard him talking on the phone with his military unit commander, though," shared a VL.ru subscriber.
In 2021, Povilayko murdered Anna Koshulko, a mother of two. He ambushed the woman near her garage, raped, beat, and strangled her, then took her car and went swimming at the beach. A little over a year before committing these crimes, Povilayko was released from prison, where he had served a term for robbery with violence.
Anna Koshulko's widower wrote to the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Defense, and local authorities, demanding the murderer's return to prison. He expressed his shock to the Baza media outlet, stating, "The man, who was supposed to spend half of his lifetime in prison until reaching retirement age, will come home, become a war hero, and get disability status along with all associated benefits. Words fail me; I am nearly hysterical. How can this possibly be?! My wife is gone, and this bastard keeps living."
Russian regions have witnessed several cases of individuals convicted for serious crimes being released ahead of their term after participating in the war in Ukraine. For example, Putin pardoned the murderer of Vera Pekhteleva from Kuzbass, who was tortured and raped for several hours. In Sakhalin, a cannibal previously sentenced to 22 years in prison was released; he went to war and later ended up in a hospital with an injury.
