A rapist freed from an eight-year prison sentence and pardoned by Vladimir Putin so he could fight in Ukraine has been arrested again after allegedly s*xually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Nikolai Nechaev, 38, from the city of Perm, is the latest of dozens of prisoners, including murderers and rapists, released by Putin and committing new crimes after serving in his armed forces and having their prison sentences personally annulled by the dictator.
Nachaev was previously convicted of, among other things, rape in 2019.
He fought for Russia in Ukraine for six months, ending in November when he was granted a full pardon for his earlier crime.
Just three months later, in February, he allegedly attacked his next victim. The alleged s*xual assault on the young girl carries a prison sentence of eight to 15 years under Russian law.
Nechaev is suspected of ‘committing violent acts of a s*xual nature’ against his schoolgirl victim. He is currently in custody pending further investigation.
When he was released by Putin’s regime in May 2023, he was assigned to the ‘special military operation’ and left to fight for the brutal Wagner military group.
At the time, the minimum contract for a released convict was six months – and that is exactly what Nechaev signed up for.
Now a criminal case has been initiated under Part 3 of Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It seems that the perpetrator cannot be free for long before committing another crime.
The 2019 rape happened just a month after she was released from a previous prison sentence for other crimes.
According to Russian news reports, Nechaev apparently hopes to avoid another full prison sentence by signing up to fight in the war again. It is still unclear whether he will be able to do that a second time.