November 13, 2023

He Was Sentenced to 17 Years. Now He Is Free.


He Was Sentenced to 17 Years. Now He Is Free.
Members of the Wagner group training Belarusian troops. Belarusian Telegraph Agency, Wikimedia Commons

Three years ago, Vyacheslav Kanyus murdered 23-year-old student Vera Pekhteleva and was supposed to serve a 17-year sentence in a maximum security colony. However, he did not spend even six months there.

According to a recent statement from the Russian Prosecutor's Office, Russian President Vladimir Putin instead pardoned Kanyus for his participation in the war with Ukraine back in April 2023.

In June, reports surfaced suggesting that Kanyus had been released and was actively participating in the Russian war in Ukraine as part of a mercenary group. The suspicion arose from photographs on social media depicting Kanyus posing with weapons, which the victim’s parents noticed. It's not clear if he joined the famous Wagner group, controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, or the Storm Z unit, controlled by the Russian Ministry of Defence.

The parents of the murdered student sought information from authorities, prompting an official response from the Kemerovo Regional Court, declaring information about Kanyus's whereabouts a state secret.

In September, human rights activist Alena Popova reported that Kanyus had returned from the front and was at large. On social media, a photo of Kanyus apparently relaxing with friends appeared, but his current location is unknown.

Vyacheslav Kanyus gained notoriety after the brutal murder of Vera Pekhteleva in January 2020. Pekhteleva had gone to Kanyus's apartment in Kemerovo to collect her belongings after ending their relationship. Despite multiple calls to the police reporting cries for help, no assistance arrived. When the apartment was finally opened, Pekhteleva was found dead with over 100 injuries, as determined by forensic experts.

Commenting on Kanyus's release, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's press secretary, stated that individuals with serious charges could find redemption through service on the battlefield. Pekhteleva's mother expressed dismay, noting the potential dangers of releasing prisoners who may continue to engage in criminal activities.

The case of Kanyus is not isolated, as it was revealed that Wagner offered prisoners contracts with pardons and cash incentives. President Putin confirmed signing decrees granting freedom to those agreeing to participate in the war.

Several instances have emerged where released prisoners who fought in Ukraine committed further crimes upon returning home. In September, Oleg Grechko, previously serving a sentence for murder, burned his sister alive in Zavolzhyie, near Nizhny Novgorod. Another incident occurred in Rostov-on-Don, where a former prisoner, previously convicted of murder, committed a new murder after returning from Ukraine.

You Might Also Like

No More Music
  • November 08, 2023

No More Music

So far this year, Yandex.Music has eradicated more than 4000 bits of content.
A Killer Gets Promoted?
  • October 30, 2023

A Killer Gets Promoted?

The man suspected of organizing the murder of Russian oppositionist Boris Nemtsov has become the commander of a new Chechen battalion.
Show and Shell
  • October 26, 2023

Show and Shell

A convicted murderer and Wagner mercenary was invited to talk to Russian students.
  • October 11, 2023

"Our Men Are Not Slaves; Bring Them Home"

Relatives of mobilized Russians are demanding the return of loved ones who have been at war for an extended period. Russian authorities are censoring their messages.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955