In Krasnodar, a sixth-grader took her life in the aftermath of her father's passing. Yevgeny Istomin had served as a mercenary at the Wagner PMC in Ukraine. This news of his daughter’s suicide was reported by the 161.ru portal on May 15th.
Yevgeny Istomin had been serving a 7-year drug-related sentence in a correctional facility near Ulyanovsk when he joined the Wagner Group and was dispatched to Bakhmut. His plan was to secure a swift pardon, return home, and take his daughter from her mother's custody. The woman had abandoned their child when she was just a baby, but later took her in after Istomin's conviction. Family members revealed that the woman had expressed interest in compensation following her ex-husband’s death.
The girl had resided with her mother for nine months. In January, she received the news of her father's death in a mortar attack. In early April, her lifeless body was discovered beneath the windows of a high-rise building in Krasnodar. Relatives recounted instances where the girl's mother would allegedly yell at her, hurl derogatory insults, and forbid her from wearing makeup to school. Classmates had observed evidence of physical abuse on the girl's body. The girl also stated that she had no right to voice her own opinion.
The girl's mother declined to talk to journalists and threatened with filing complaints with the prosecutor's office.
The Wagner PMC started recruiting prisoners to war in the summer of 2022. The company's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had made multiple visits to correctional facilities in various regions of the country.
On May 4th, Irina Samarina from Chelyabinsk buried her two sons. One had served at the Wagner PMC, while the other succumbed to cardiac arrest. The mother received news of her sons' deaths within a day of each other.
