From Russia with Fear

In Sochi, a pardoned SVO veteran ran over his neighbor with his car after she asked him to turn down loud music. The woman survived but remains in critical condition with severe injuries. Investigators say the ex-soldier, who previously served time for reckless violence, had been terrorizing neighbors for months. Another case of postwar brutality spreading through Russia.

In Chelyabinsk, a war veteran who brutally stabbed his girlfriend to death in front of witnesses has been sentenced to only nine years in prison. The court cited his military service as a mitigating factor. Now, the convicted killer has applied to return to the war in Ukraine — potentially avoiding punishment entirely. A chilling story of violence, impunity, and the price of “heroism” in Russia.  

In Krasnoyarsk, a 64-year-old pensioner hired a hitman — one of her debtors — to kill her close friend to avoid repaying a 200,000-ruble loan. The murder-for-debt plot shocked Russia with its cruelty and cynicism. We reveal how a mild-looking grandmother turned into a calculating killer, the accomplice who betrayed her, and why cases like this are becoming disturbingly common.

In Moscow, restaurateur Viktor Mishachev’s SUV was blown up in a “nineteen‐nineties” style hit, wounding him, his young son and a bystander. Hours later, police arrested his business partner and found a private arsenal of rifles, pistols, armour and bomb‐making materials. We unpack the blast, the rivalries that may have sparked it, and the hunt for accomplices in one of the city’s most brazen atte...

A war-pardoned Wagner fighter returns to his Yakut village and, during a night of heavy drinking, bludgeons one neighbor with a crowbar and hacks an award-winning teacher to death with an axe. Sentenced to twenty years, he could still walk free while middle-aged — or sign another military contract and erase the slate again. This episode examines how the prison-front-freedom pipeline fuels a rising...

In Saratov, a pardoned SVO veteran murdered his girlfriend in her workplace after she tried to end their relationship. The brutal stabbing, caught on security cameras, is part of a disturbing pattern: killers released from prison to fight in Ukraine, then returning to commit new crimes — and sometimes seeking to avoid punishment by returning to war. We break down the loopholes, the numbers, and th...

In Chulman (Yakutia), a 12-year-old girl was fatally mauled by a pack of about fifteen stray dogs in broad daylight. Despite a four-hour surgery, she died from catastrophic injuries. The attack sparked protests, a negligence case against officials, and a desperate debate over capture programs, sterilization, and vigilante “culls.” We trace the warning signs residents raised for months—and what rea...

In Tolyatti, a 13-year-old girl brutally murdered her two little sisters while their parents were away at the police station. Investigators say jealousy, domestic violence, and mental illness may have driven her to kill. The story reveals a family’s hidden fractures, a system’s blind spots, and the haunting question of what justice means when the killer is still a child.

A Moscow trial exposes one of Russia’s most brutal criminal gangs — the “Black Realtors.” For nearly a decade, they kidnapped and starved lonely pensioners, forcing them to sign over their apartments before leaving them to die. With fake lawyers, forged heirs, and even ex‑policemen on their payroll, the group made over 240 million rubles. This episode reveals how greed, corruption, and indifferenc...

A young couple from Rostov-on-Don has been sentenced for one of Russia’s most horrifying crimes — the murder and dismemberment of their 8‑month‑old daughter. Yakov and Anastasia Maiboroda beat their baby to death, ground her body in a meat grinder, and hid the remains in their freezer before calling police to report a fake kidnapping. We recount the investigation, the year-long trial, and the chil...

A 21-year-old woman, Daria Muravyova, is stabbed to death in broad daylight in Nagorny (Chelyabinsk region). The accused, SVO veteran Kirill Kazyma, called it “love” and jealousy; prosecutors call it premeditated murder. We trace the toxic control that escalated after his return from the front, the nine knife wounds captured on a neighbor’s video, and why courts must treat stalking and “talks with...

Two shocking street assaults on elderly women: in Tyumen, a man attacks the mother of a fallen SVO soldier after she enters a shop with her dog; in Ulyanovsk, 69-year-old Valentina Alekseyevna is punched in the face three times by a passerby, identified as Sergey Kadrev. We examine random street violence, impunity, and how communities can fight back.

In this episode, we explore a shocking case from Ufa, where a drunk and violent mother regularly beats her husband and terrifies their four-year-old daughter. Viral footage of the little girl begging police to “take mommy away” has sparked outrage. We look at domestic violence from the other side — when the abuser is a woman, and the victims are a father and child trapped in silence and fear.

This heartbreaking episode tells the story of Natalia Geraskina, a drunk mother from Taganrog who beat her six-month-old twin sons during her birthday — killing one and sending the other to intensive care. Despite previous warnings from social services and a history of neglect, the babies were returned to her care. We explore how systemic failure and addiction led to an unthinkable tragedy.

What first looked like a tragic accident in the village of Ushanka—where 17-year-old Milena , a farmer’s daughter, was found with horrific injuries inflicted by domestic pigs—quickly turned into a murder investigation. When Milena’s parents were away, she was looking after the farm. She went to feed the livestock and never returned. Her body, severely mangled, was found by a family friend. The ini...

This episode tells the disturbing story of Father Daniil Sidorov, a 26-year-old Orthodox priest and former assistant to the Yekaterinburg Metropolitan, who was caught on video assaulting an 18-year-old girl near her home. Despite admitting guilt in a sexual violence case, the court released him without arrest. We explore how power, status, and religion affect justice in Russia.

This episode investigates the brutal case of Dmitry Suvorov, a Saint Petersburg man who murdered his daughter — then went to war instead of prison. As violence by returning SVO veterans rises, experts warn of a nationwide crisis. We examine how domestic abusers avoid punishment, why Russian courts show them leniency, and how war trauma is turning heroes into killers.

This episode of “From Russia with Fear” investigates a horror quest in Saratov where five schoolgirls were beaten, choked, and groped under the guise of “immersive play.” We examine the girls’ injuries, the organizers’ excuses, the criminal probe, and the wider problem of Russia’s unregulated quest industry.

The brutal murder of a 4-year-old girl, Samira Mutsolgova, in Ingushetia was officially blamed on beatings, but medical evidence pointed to horrific sexual assault. In this episode, we uncover the shocking details of this case, where official silence sought to hide the "shame" of the crime. Even more disturbingly, the prime suspect, Bashir Vedzizhev—who was facing charges in the girl's death—was m...

A village in Perm Krai is shaken after a stable hand films his exotic snake consuming a live kitten—and circulates the clip with a mocking caption. We examine the man behind the video, the occult-tinged persona he built online, the community backlash, and whether Russia’s animal-cruelty laws will actually be enforced. A case about spectacle, responsibility, and where violence often begins.

An eighteen-year-old bludgeons the woman who raised her from age three—a beloved village teacher who saved for years to send her foster daughter to medical school. What turned gratitude into greed, and love into murder? In this From Russia with Fear episode, we unpack the killing of Elena Antonova, the arrest of Ksenia Smirnova with stolen bank cards, and a verdict that echoes the fate of Ksenia’s...

A mother in Kazan set fire to her house, killing seven family members — including her own children, two of them disabled. This shocking crime shook all of Tatarstan. But the court gave her only 13 years. Was it justice — or a dangerous precedent?

A peaceful morning in a Kazan suburb turned into horror when 48-year-old Zhanna Khusainova was found dead in a field — mauled by a pack of stray dogs. In this episode of From Russia with Fear , we investigate how the tragedy happened, who allowed dozens of aggressive dogs to roam free, and why authorities failed to prevent the attack. A heartbreaking call for help, a forbidden dog shelter, and a c...

A shocking tragedy in New Moscow: a 47-year-old bank analyst is found dead on a children’s playground, lying in a pool of blood. At first it seemed like an accident, but investigators soon turned their attention to the woman’s own daughter. Behind the façade of a normal family, a dark story of conflict, alcohol, and resentment unfolded. Did a daughter really kill her own mother with a dagger? From...

In this episode of From Russia with Fear , we investigate the sharp rise in violent crimes across Russia committed by SVO veterans—many of them pardoned murderers, rapists, and repeat offenders. After returning from Ukraine, these men are not sent back to prison, but unleashed on civilian society. The result? Women and children murdered, entire communities terrorized, and a justice system that tur...