April 22, 2023

Violence Comes Home, Too


Violence Comes Home, Too
Murderer Alexander Mamaev with Ekaterina, his wife, on their wedding day. Meduza, Instagram

A man from Nizhny Novgorod volunteered as a soldier for the Russian army in Ukraine. When he returned to Russia, he committed femicide (murder motivated by gender) against his wife. Their six- and seven-year-olds were in the apartment at the time.

Alexander Mamayev returned from being a sub-commander of a mobile infantry unit in Ukraine. After celebratory drinks with his brother-in-law, the 44-year-old fell asleep. According to the former soldier, he thought that his wife, Yekaterina, was taking money from his pocket and stabbed her in the chest during an ensuing argument. However, Nizhny Novgorod Online reported that Mamayev's aggression may actually have been caused by jealousy. Yekaterina managed to call an ambulance, but died before it arrived. Mamayev confessed his crime and was arrested.

The organization Fem Antivoennoe Sprotivlenie (Feminist Antiwar Resistance) said that the war in Ukraine has exacerbated domestic violence in Russia. The Russian media has reported cases of soldiers returning to the country with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Russian feminist organization said that leaving former soldiers' PTSD untreated fuels violence against women and children. Fem Antivoennoe Sprotivlenie also said Russia has pardoned convicted murderers and rapists in exchange for fighting in Ukraine. These men are called "heroes," but when they return home, they endanger their families.

Yekaterina's body remained in the morgue for days, unclaimed. Her local community gathered funds for a proper burial. The couple's children will be sent to an orphanage.

 

You Might Also Like

Notes at the Front

Notes at the Front

Musicians have not been spared from the criminalization of protest and expression. We also share Ilya Yashin's final words.
Kara-Murza Sentenced to 25 Years
  • April 17, 2023

Kara-Murza Sentenced to 25 Years

Journalist and democratic activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for telling the truth.
Masha, The War Criminal
  • March 22, 2023

Masha, The War Criminal

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova. Who is she?
Screws are Tightening
  • April 12, 2023

Screws are Tightening

March has seen a serious tightening of the screws of repression by the Russian regime.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

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.  
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
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.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
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.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
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...

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