The photo shows 36-year-old Dmitry Malichev and 38-year-old Aleksandr Maslennikov, both from the area of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in southern Russia. The former led a criminal gang behind the murder of two businessmen in 2013. A year later, he murdered an immigrant from Tajikistan, cutting out his heart to fry and eat it at his home. A process that he filmed entirely with his smartphone, including when he ate his ‘meal’. “We bake a person. This is the heart. I already added the onion,” he reportedly said on the footage. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
“We bake a person. This is the heart. I have already added the onion”
Dmitri Malychev
Russian cannibal in infamous video
Maslennikov in turn murdered two women, Daria Labutina (29) and Olga Shaposjnikova (28), whom he had met in a karaoke bar and invited to his apartment. He confessed to having sex with Daria and then killing her in the bathroom. When Olga refused to have sex with him, he tied her up and strangled her. Even after her death, he stabbed her several times with a knife. Afterwards, he used an ax and a meat grinder to dismember the bodies of his victims. He gave some human remains to his dogs. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
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Dmitry Malichev signed a contract with the Russian army in October 2023.
Wagner a Storm-V
Despite their horrific actions, both gentlemen appear to be no longer behind bars but at the front in Ukraine. That’s not really surprising. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has recruited more than a hundred thousand detainees to strengthen Russian troops in Ukraine. In exchange for their service, they are eligible for a pardon. Late last year, The Washington Post reported that Russia’s prison population had fallen from roughly 420,000 before the war to 266,000 in October 2023.
Despite their horrific actions, both gentlemen appear to be no longer behind bars but at the front in Ukraine. That’s not really surprising
Many of the detainees, often serious criminals, end up as cannon fodder, in the Wagner Legion of the late Yevgeny Prigozhin or in Storm-V, a military unit made up of ex-detainees. But some of the (ex-)criminals do survive and regain their freedom after a while. Last year, Russia saw an increase in the number of crimes committed by released prisoners. One such ticking time bomb was arrested a few months after his return home on suspicion of a six-fold murder.
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Many of the detainees end up as cannon fodder in the Wagner Legion of the late Yevgeny Prigozhin. — © AFP
Condoms in primary school
The first group of detainees was released after six months. The prisoners now sign for at least a year, although the Ministry of Defense can unilaterally extend that period. In practice, many recruited detainees appear to be stuck at the front until the end of the war.
“Alexander (Maslennikov, ed.) and I were in prison together and both signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense in October 2023,” Malichev told the Russian news medium V1 in a telephone conversation. The two are part of Storm-V and, according to Malichev, they are not just fighting for their personal freedom, but also for “the preservation of Russia’s traditional values.”
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Dmitry Malichev in combat gear.
“I know inmates who only came here for the different environment. They usually disappear quickly. But I understood why I went. How would you react if your daughter was told in primary school how to properly put on a condom? Or will men walk down the street and lick each other? Is that normal for you? It is not normal for me,” Malichev explains his motivations.
“I know inmates who only came here for the different environment. They usually disappear quickly”
Dmitri Malychev
Russian cannibal
The convicted murderer and cannibal was reportedly injured in February, but returned to the front. He is now said to be in hospital again. “During an attack maneuver, a grenade landed on me. I have a broken jaw, shrapnel in my knee and left hand and my left eardrum has burst,” he tells V1.