From penal colony to hero: The disturbing path to redemption in Russia
Murderers, rapists, paedophiles, cannibals – the list of criminals Russia sends to the Ukrainian front is getting longer. If they don't die in the war, they regain their freedom and return to the country as "heroes".
This was exactly the case with Nikita Siemianow. As described by "Fakt", in 2021, the man was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for murdering his father-in-law. But just after a few months, Siemianow regained his freedom. He was pardoned by Putin and sent to the front in Ukraine. Today, the criminal visits Russian schools and talks to students about love for the motherland.
The fact that Siemianow regained his freedom horrifies those who know him well. One of them is Polina, Nikita's ex-wife. When she met her future husband, he was 18, and she was just 10.
He worked at the school Polina attended. When she was 13, they slept together. They started living together when she was 15. She was still a child. By the time she was 17, she already had a daughter with him. And all this time, he regularly beat her, humiliated her, raped her in front of strangers, including minors — says a friend of Polina in an interview with sibreal.org.
According to Polina's friends, she was a victim of domestic violence for many years. She was afraid of her husband and silently endured rapes, humiliation, and beating. She didn’t go to the police even when Nikita broke her nose.
Another friend of Polina admitted that she was a witness to a horrifying scene.
My friend and I were 13 years old when our acquaintance brought us to Nikita's private house. [...] First, he offered us strong alcohol, then he undressed Polina in front of us, forced her to have sex with him, and then tried to take advantage of me and my friend. He said, "I think you can't join." [...] Fortunately, I refused – recalls in an interview with sibreal.org.
As she adds, underage guests often visited Nikita's house. "What kind of hero is he? A paedophile and a murderer!" says the woman, declaring that she would repeat the same in court if Polina files a lawsuit.
He murdered his father-in-law
Polina was 18 years old when she divorced Nikita. But the separation did not bring her relief. The man exploited the situation and blackmailed his ex-wife.
[...] He constantly told her and wrote to her that "she would never see her child again". And if she went to him, he would "ruin her life". Initially, it was agreed that they would be allowed to see each other, and the daughter would be "registered" to him only because "he had the means to support her". But in reality, after the divorce, he simply didn't allow her to see the daughter. He sent her straight from the house and that was it. He threatened her — narrates a friend of the woman.
Only Polina's father could see the granddaughter. But this didn’t last long.
The men worked together in a workshop. In April 2021, Siemianow cold-bloodedly murdered his father-in-law, for which the court sentenced him to nine years in a maximum-security penal colony. The verdict came in May 2022. A year later, the murderer went to fight in Ukraine.
By accident, Siemianow's ex-wife found out that the man had returned to Novosibirsk as... a Russian hero. Polina says he "goes to meetings with children and teaches them love for the motherland and overcoming fear." He poses for photos with students.
It's simply horrifying. Authorities not only set murderers and rapists, pedophiles free but also give them direct access to children. It's disgusting, they make them heroes — summarizes one of Polina's friends, quoted by sibreal.org.
