Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov commented on the pardon of Kemerovo resident Vladislav Kanyus, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Vera Pekhteleva and then recruited to fight in the colony. His words are quoted by Mayak radio.
Kanyus was taken from the colony to participate in the war in the spring, a year after the verdict was passed — he was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum security colony. The convict then began publishing photos on social networks wearing camouflage clothing and holding a weapon.
In November, the prosecutor's office confirmed to Pekhteleva's parents that President Vladimir Putin had indeed pardoned their daughter's killer by secret decree at the end of April.
When journalists asked Peskov about pardoning the Kemerovo citizen, he called “atonement for a crime with blood on the battlefield” an alternative way to receive a pardon.
“There is a certain procedure for pardoning, we have spoken about it several times. This is an admission of guilt by the convict himself, this is a decision first at the level of the Federal Penitentiary Service, then at the regional level, then at the federal district level, then the central commission, then the documents are presented to the president. This is one way. There is a second way, when those convicted, including those convicted of serious crimes, atone for their crime on the battlefield with blood. They are redeemed with blood in the assault brigades, under bullets, under shells,” said the Kremlin representative.
Wagner PMC began recruiting for the war in the colonies in the summer of 2022, promising prisoners pardon and release after six months of service. At the end of 2022, the Ministry of Defense also took over the recruitment, which subsequently removed Wagner PMC from this. As the Russian BBC service wrote, after this they began to demand that prisoners sign contracts for a year and a half.
Kanyus, as the court found, killed his former partner, 23-year-old student Vera Pekhteleva, in January 2020. He beat the girl for a long time, including wrapping an iron wire around Pekhteleva’s neck, “to scare her” and “put her to sleep.” Residents of the high-rise building called the police several times around five o'clock in the morning and reported women's screams.
As a result, the police arrived only after the neighbors broke down the door to the apartment where Pekhteleva was killed. Five police officers who ignored calls about screaming were given suspended sentences and found guilty of negligence.