Russia’s soldiers bringing wartime violence back home

“I’m a veteran of the special military operation, I’m going to kill you!” were the words Irina heard as she was attacked by a man in Artyom, in Russia’s far east.

She had been returning from a night out when the man kicked her and beat her with his crutch. The force of the strike was so strong that it broke the crutch.

When the police arrived, the man showed them a document proving he had been in Ukraine and claimed that because of his service “nothing will happen to him”.

The attack on Irina is just one of many reported to have been committed by soldiers returning from Ukraine.

Verstka, an independent Russian website, estimates that at least 242 Russians have been killed by soldiers returning from Ukraine. Another 227 have been seriously injured.

Like the man who beat Irina, many of the attackers have previous criminal convictions and were released from prison specifically to join Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The BBC estimates that the Wagner mercenary group recruited more than 48,000 prisoners to fight in Ukraine. When Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash last year, Russia’s defence ministry took over recruitment in prisons.

These cases have severely impacted Russian society, says sociologist Igor Eidman.

“This is a very serious problem, and it can potentially get worse. All the traditional ideas of good and evil are being turned upside down,” he told the BBC.

“People who have committed heinous crimes – murderers, rapists, cannibals and paedophiles – they not only avoid punishment by going to war, the unprecedented bit is that they are being hailed as heroes.”

There are numerous reasons why Russian soldiers lucky enough to return from the war would think they are above the law.

Official media call them “heroes,” and President Vladimir Putin has dubbed them Russia’s new “elite”. Those recruited into the army from prisons either had their convictions removed or they were pardoned.

It is not unheard of for released convicts return from the war in Ukraine, reoffend and then escape punishment for a second time by going back to the front.

This makes some police officers despair. “Four years ago, I put him away for seven years,” policeman Grigory told the Novaya Gazeta website.

“And here he is in front of me again, saying: ‘You won’t be able to do anything, officer. Now’s our time, the time of those who are shedding blood in the special military operation.'”

Russian courts have routinely used participation in the war against Ukraine as a reason to issue milder sentences.

But many cases don’t even reach court. Moscow has introduced a new law against “discrediting the Russian armed forces,” which has made some victims of crimes by veterans afraid to report them.

Olga Romanova, the head of prisoner rights NGO Russia Behind Bars, says a sense of impunity is driving up crime rates.

“The main consequence is the gap between crime and punishment in the public mind. If you commit a crime, it is far from certain that you are going to be punished,” she tells the BBC.

In 2023, the number of serious crimes registered in Russia rose by almost 10%, and in the first half of this year the number of military personnel convicted of crimes more than doubled compared to the same period a year before.

Sociologist Anna Kuleshova argues that violence is becoming more acceptable in Russian society, especially because criminals can now escape punishment by going to war.

“There is a tendency to legalise violence. The idea that violence is a kind of norm will probably spread – violence at school, domestic violence, violence in relationships and as a way to resolve conflicts.

“This is facilitated by the militarisation of society, the turn to conservatism and the romanticisation of war. Violent crimes committed within the country are being atoned by the violence of war.”

Igor Eidman, Olga Romanova and Anna Kuleshova all spoke to the BBC from outside Russia.