The grandmother of a St. Petersburg resident was killed by a former convict-Wagner mercenary who returned from the war
Irina, a nurse from St. Petersburg, lost her grandmother in Kirov Oblast. The 85-year-old woman lived alone and helped her neighbors. In March 2023, she was found murdered in her home. Security cameras showed that she had been visited by Ivan Rossomakhin, who was previously convicted of murder, later recruited by the Wagner PMC and had returned from the war. Rossomakhin was arrested but does not admit guilt. Irina is trying to get as much publicity as possible, fearing the case will be 'buried.' She demands a real prison sentence for the murderer, an end to the practice of releasing violent criminals to fight in the war, and accountability for the structures that freed them.
Attention! Translation was done using AI, mistakes are possible
АП: Where do you live, what do you do?
И: I live in Saint Petersburg, I work as a nurse.
АП: Do you work in some hospital?
И: Yes.
АП: Can you name the place where you work?
И: Can I not name it?
АП: Okay.
И: Because it's federal.
АП: I understand you. So it's a state institution.
И: There can be their own complications there, yes.
АП: I understand you.
И: Well, I generally don't have the right to name it, not only to you, but... Without publicity.
АП: Is this some kind of closed institution?
И: Not closed, but... We're not allowed to photograph where we work.
[...]
АП: Let's learn your story in general terms. Please tell us what happened and when?
И: My grandmother, she lived in the city of Vyatskiye Polyany in Kirov Oblast. This city is native to me, although now I already live in Saint Petersburg. She was quite elderly, she was born in '38. But she lived completely independently, she took care of the house, took care of the garden.
АП: She lived in a private house?
И: Yes, it's the private sector. She lived there from the mid-70s, if I'm not mistaken, that is, it was before my birth. So it was such a grandmother's house. Very close, there the distance is less than a kilometer, her eldest son and youngest daughter live, my mom. So she was under supervision. Someone from them came to her every day in the morning or evening, sometimes morning and evening. And last Wednesday when my uncle came, he discovered that grandmother was brutally murdered. Murdered with an axe.
They called medics, they called law enforcement agencies. We were lucky that the neighbor had surveillance cameras on the street, which allowed them to establish the identity of who came, who could have done this. Ivan Rossomakhin was detained. Grandmother knew him, because once as a student he rented a room from her. Not permanent housing rental – it was such a room for overnight stay, if he couldn't leave for his village.
АП: He rented a room from her in this house?
И: Yes, in this house. This was, I might be mistaken, but definitely more than 14 years ago. My daughter is already 14, this was earlier. It was such a place for overnight stay, when students after studies couldn't leave for their village, they stayed somewhere. Grandmother rented to such guys.
АП: I'll clarify now: so they couldn't leave from this village where she lives? Am I understanding correctly that this is...
И: No, this is a small city, there is its own educational secondary specialized institution there.
АП: And what kind of institution is this? Is this some kind of technical college?
И: Well yes, there is a technical college and there is a professional technical school.
АП: Does it have some kind of specialization?
И: I can't remember... Well, there the technical college, it's machine-building, and the vocational school, it's some kind of... I can't say exactly.
[...]
He studied there. My grandmother was friends with the whole world and at 85 remembered the birthdays of all relatives. There were relatives whom I [only] heard about, and she knew exactly when their birthday was and called to congratulate. Therefore, probably, grandmother remembered him.
And when we started finding out, it turned out that this was a Wagner Group mercenary who served in Ukraine, who had already been keeping [neighbors] in fear for several days, running with this axe around the street...
АП: Of this city?
И: No, of his village, Novy Burets. And somehow he ended up... Although he was supposed to leave altogether. As far as I understood, law enforcement agencies set him the condition to leave.
АП: And what was this connected with and where was he supposed to go?
И: I can't say where he was supposed to go, but this was connected with his inadequate behavior. People in the village were already simply afraid of him, and people refused to go out on the street. This I know from a Meduza publication. People were afraid and asked representatives of law enforcement agencies to protect the village from him.
This person for some reason ended up in my grandmother's house, brutally murdered her. He was arrested, but he doesn't give confession testimony. It's known that since May he has a new contract signed with the Wagner Group. And why I agree to any communication with all journalists – because this is a story that they might simply leak, cover up, declare him innocent.
АП: Tell me please, have you contacted any other journalists besides us?
И: Yes, with Kholod and Mediazona.
АП: You also recorded interviews with them, did I understand correctly?
И: Yes. But I understood that they received my contacts from you, because on Instagram I only gave my contacts to your representative.
АП: Possibly, yes, colleagues passed them on. Let's talk more in detail about what happened. Tell me please, how did your relatives learn about what happened? As I understand, your uncle called you?
И: There's another story there, connected to the fact that I initially very brightly and clearly expressed an anti-war position. And in my close circle of communication there are no people who support the war. From close people I [with no one] had to cut off communication. But there were those who themselves stopped communicating with me. I wasn't shy: I have posts on Facebook, and on Instagram I very clearly expressed my position from the first days. Therefore my parents simply decided to hide the reason from me.
АП: And did you agree with your parents in views?
И: Yes, with parents we agree in views completely.
АП: Your parents live there, right?
И: Yes-yes-yes. My parents simply... They still have a tendency of guardianship, protection. They knew my reaction, and they didn't want me to worry. Therefore I knew that grandmother was gone, but as the reason I simply figured it out myself, seeing the publication on Meduza. Because too many factors came together.
АП: So this publication came out without your participation?
И: On Meduza without my participation, I learned from there, yes. I understand that from federal [sources] RIA Novosti published.
АП: Before this you said that your uncle called you and said about the brutality of this murder. Please explain...
И: No, uncle found, uncle didn't call. Uncle came in the evening to grandmother. I said that uncle came and discovered. There are two uncles figuring in this story, but neither of them told me the truth. One uncle found, and the second uncle simply called me – dad's older brother, from the other side. So I tried to call him, to find out what happened. He said: "I learned from you that grandmother..."
[...]
АП: So parents simply...
И: They were hiding from me, yes. I learned from Meduza, called my brother, I say: "Let's call mom." We started calling mom together, and mom already said that yes, that's how things stand.
Until now the investigation still isn't unfolding. Everything is moving very slowly there, because it's a very small provincial town. They're waiting for forensic medical experts from Kirov, from the regional center, that's 350 kilometers. We have Kazan nearby, but Kirov is located at a distance. And the investigation isn't starting yet, but it's known that Rossomakhin doesn't give confession testimony. The investigation is dragging out, and it's not completely clear what this can lead to. This is one side of the coin. The other side of the coin — is that he's not the only one like this. A released inadequate person who should serve imprisonment for many more years.
АП: Let's return to the details of this story, let's restore the chain of events. Your parents called you last Wednesday, am I understanding correctly?
И: No, mom called me not on Wednesday at all, but on Friday morning and reported that grandmother was gone, that on Saturday there would be a funeral. I said: "Mom, why did you tell me so late..." — she says: "Well, you probably won't be able to come anyway." I say: "Well, probably, now I definitely won't be able to come." She's like: "Well, that's not necessary." Well, I felt that mom wasn't telling me something. Sorry, I'm just walking through a shopping center to get home.
АП: Yes, of course. What was next?
И: It's clear that all this is very sad and sorrowful, but at 85 this happens, I as a medic know this very well. I have such, probably, professionally deformed attitude toward death. But if on Tuesday evening they were talking about grandmother wanting to go to Kazan, and then they tell me that on Wednesday she was gone, I concluded for myself that some very sudden condition led to grandmother being gone. Therefore I was very sad, sorrowful and bitter, but this is a logical outcome of events, of human life.
АП: She was planning to go to Kazan for some of her business?
И: Yes, her daughter's friend lives there, her middle daughter's childhood friend. And periodically she goes there...
АП: So she was that independent?
И: She was completely independent. Absolutely independent person in sound mind, bright memory, and everything was excellent with her. There were health problems, but not such that would chain her to bed or tie her to the house.
АП: Then you started reading reports, materials...
И: I didn't even start searching, I simply stumbled upon Meduza and saw Vyatskiye Polyany. And for us periodically for some reason Vyatskiye Polyany figures in some criminal reports – not really often, but it happens. And I'm like: "Well, Vyatskiye Polyany again..." Started looking further and saw that there a son found an 85-year-old woman in his house, this was on Wednesday. And after that I decided that I need to find out from mom if this is so.
АП: You mean, find out whether this was specifically your grandmother?
И: Yes-yes-yes. Because too much came together. To a direct question, of course, mom answered me the truth.
АП: How did she explain why she didn't tell you earlier?
И: Well, she, you know, as Maria Pevchikh said at Dud's that they didn't take her into a certain group for radicalism. My parents are already afraid anyway. [...]
Because when in September in Kherson [conductor] Yuri Kerpatenko was killed, this is my cousin's friend...