‘HE’S ON THE LOOSE’

Russian Inmate Freed to Fight in Ukraine Now Wanted for Raping a Child

The 36-year-old completed his stint with the Wagner mercenary group, returned home, and allegedly raped a 13-year-old.

A Russian convict released from prison to take part in the war against Ukraine is now wanted for allegedly raping a child upon his return home.

Alexei Khlebnikov, 36, is at the center of a frantic manhunt in the Volgograd region after the alleged attack, according to local outlet V1.ru. “He’s a Wagnerite. He served there [in Ukraine]. He returned home. The search is on for him but no one knows where he could be. He’s on the loose but they are looking for him,” an unnamed official was quoted as saying.

Khlebnikov was reportedly sentenced to 11 years behind bars at a maximum security prison in 2018 on a murder conviction, but he managed to serve only a fraction of that term thanks to Russia’s prison-recruitment scheme for the war against Ukraine. It’s not clear how long he spent on the battlefield or which prison he was recruited from.

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Panicked locals have reportedly begun circulating his photo on social media in a bid to help nab him. “Please send this to everyone you know, maybe someone has seen him!” one such message read.

Myriad reports have emerged of Russian inmates-turned-mercenaries committing murders and sexual assaults on their own soil after returning from the battlefield in Ukraine. The independent outlet Verstka reported last month that such incidents were becoming “regular,” though there are no official statistics, as authorities go out of their way to keep these crimes from becoming public.

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