Russia has reportedly pardoned a Satanist cannibal after the convicted double-murderer served six months on the Ukrainian front.
Both sides are struggling to man their military machines and the Kremlin now regularly looks to Russia’s prisons and penal colonies to help to bolster its war efforts.
Apparently, one of those pulled from the Russian prison system was Nikolai Ogolobyak, 33, who had been sentenced to 20 years in a maximum security penal colony for his role in an explicitly Satanic cult.
According to Russian media sources, Ogolobyak took part in the murder, dismemberment and ritual consumption of a number of victims, whom the group killed in sacrifices to the devil.
Having served 13 years, Ogolobyak was then sent to Ukraine, fighting in one of Russia’s Storm-Z penal military units.
Based on previous attempts by the Russian-backed mercenary Wagner Group to recruit in prisons for the war, the country has offered convicts reduced sentences and a good monthly wage in exchange for joining its invasion of Ukraine.
Ogolobyak is said to have taken the deal, fighting on the frontlines for six months before being injured and sent back to Russia.
According to his father, Ogolobyak is now a free man and is said to be living with his mother in the city of Yaroslavl.
He is said to now be disabled but capable of walking, with the family claiming they are trying to put the man’s dark past behind them.
Russian media have approached the Government asking if any conditions were attached to Ogolobyak’s release.
Is the Ukraine war at a turning point? Zelensky and his top general paint a grim picture, writes @GElefteriu. https://t.co/c63LNsCyTB
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 17, 2023
News of the convicted cannibal’s release has shone a spotlight on Russia’s military recruitment efforts. The country is being forced to call up more criminals to keep its war efforts afloat.
There remains some indication that things for Ukraine may be worse. The country’s officials have now repeatedly warned Western media outlets of their inability to replenish the army with fresh recruits.
Kyiv has attempted to keep morale high in recent weeks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted that the war can still be won as long as he continues to receive international support.
Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale, has backed Zelenskyy’s claim, suggesting that the West could break the conflict’s current deadlock by vastly ramping up its military support for the country.
“The reason why I hate the stalemate analogy is that it suggests we can’t just drop five more queens on the Ukrainians’ board, and we can do it any time,” he said.
He added that while the issue of humanitarian aid was also important, “You can’t actually stop a cruise missile with a sweater.”
The European Commission has been pressured to detail the “carbon footprint of fighter jets” sent by European Union Member States to Ukraine. https://t.co/sWW5xOeE9u
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 22, 2023
