Number of sex crimes against children sees huge rise in Russia

Russia has seen a shocking rise in the number of sex-related crimes after Vladimir Putin started pardoning offenders for fighting in his war against Ukraine.

The number of people convicted of child abuse has almost doubled in the past year, according to analysis by independent We Can Explain media.

And the most heinous sex crimes against minors have increased by 77 per cent with violent sex crimes with aggravating circumstances rising by half. 

In the first half of the current year, 147 people were convicted, compared to 97 the year before.

Returnees from Putin's war against Ukraine have been blamed in part for the rise in crime.

Wagner private army veteran Vladimir Aleksandrov, 40, a previously convicted rapist, is alleged to have raped and killed 11-year-old schoolgirl, Nastya Yakina, in Nizhny Tagil.

Her distraught father Alexander Yakin, 42, had just lost his wife to cancer when his daughter was murdered. 

After raping Nastya, Aleksandrov dumped her body in a basement in Nizhny Tagil where her corpse was gnawed by rats, it is alleged.

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Russian criminal suspects can avoid going to court if they agree to fight in Ukraine

Aleksandrov was freed from jail to fight in Ukraine and later pardoned by Putin after serving for six months when his remaining eight year jail term was annulled.

War returnee Yury Gavrilov, 33, from Orenburg was also pardoned and freed by the Kremlin. 

He allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl to his flat and committed acts of 'rape and torture' during a two hour ordeal.

Meanwhile, it was revealed today that Kremlin authorities have started offering criminal suspects to have their charges dropped if they agree to fight against Ukraine. 

Putin is looking to replenish troop losses along the frontlines, according to new reports.

According to laws signed into effect by the Russian President in June 2023, convicts were eligible for pardon or to have the remainder of their sentences struck off if they volunteered to participate in the Kremlin's war machine. 

However, this new practice, formalised by legislation in March 2024, allows individuals accused of crimes to avoid prosecution by agreeing to serve on the front lines before being convicted.

Both prosecution and defence lawyers are now required to inform suspects of this option, with criminal cases suspended if they enlist.

The efforts of Russian authorities to funnel criminal suspects into their military apparatus were uncovered in a joint investigation between the BBC and Russian independent outlet Mediazona.

They initially received a leaked recording of a Russian investigator telling the spouse of one man facing a potential six-year jail term that 'we will close the case' if her husband were to sign a military contract.

'We're seeing an unprecedented shift in the legal system,' Olga Romanova, director of the NGO Russia Behind Bars, told the BBC.

'Police can now catch a man over the corpse of someone he has just killed. They tighten the handcuffs and then the killer says: ''Oh wait, I want to go on a special military operation'', and they close the criminal case.'