Putin pardons convicted assassin to bolster war efforts in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has pardoned one of the five Chechens involved in the assassination of opposition figure Boris Nemtsov in central Moscow in February 2015. After serving only seven years, Temirlan Eskerchanov has been released and is currently fighting in Ukraine.

To date, one of the most notable cases was the release in 2023 of former police officer Sergey Khadzhikurbanov. He was responsible for the murder of one of the most prominent critics of Vladimir Putin's government, journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Now, according to TASS, Vladimir Putin has pardoned one of the five Chechens who killed Boris Nemtsov on the night of 27 February 2015. Although Putin himself was not supposed to be directly involved in this crime, there are many indications pointing to Ramzan Kadyrov, who is closely associated with the dictator. He delegated his best men for this task.

Although at first glance the decision to pardon murderers may seem strange, it is primarily due to the lack of ready and willing Russians to fight in Ukraine. For this reason, for some time now, the Russian army has been recruiting in prisons, from where they obtain soldiers ready for anything at a relatively low cost.