Russia: Putin pardons killer of young student for fighting in Ukraine

The Russian president pardoned in April the resident of the city of Kemerovo, Vladislav Kanius, who had killed his ex-girlfriend Vera Pekheliova. This is inferred from the official response of the Rostov district prosecutor’s office, which her father received, a copy of which was published by human rights activist Anna Popova.

On her Telegram channel, Popova published the prosecutor’s response to Pekhtelyova’s parents, from which it was concluded that the decree of the Russian president granting clemency to their daughter’s killer was signed on April 27, 2023.

“So Putin just pardoned the murderer. Kanius had been killing Vera for several hours. In legal language, they say with particular cruelty, in human language with sick sadism. There were 111 wounds on her body, before killing her he raped her and then strangled her with the cable of an iron (iron),” Popova wrote in her post.

What to do; Yes as always: not to be silent: to shout as loud as we can. If we remain silent we will simply accept that these murderers will walk our streets freely. Send this to the media you read. Let them write about it. Let’s ask Peskov about the logic of such a decision. Let them ask the prosecution why they see no violation. We must not leave them alone. Let them justify themselves to the whole country for their ‘heroes'”, writes Popova on Telegram.

Popova announced that Kanius is free at the beginning of September. “So here he is uploading photos from a trip he went on and grilling skewers, he’s enjoying life.”

Kanius spent three hours killing 23-year-old Vera in January 2020. He managed to stab her 56 times and then began to strangle her with the iron cable. Hearing screams, the neighbors called the police, but they did not arrive.

In July 2022, the court found Kanius guilty of committing murder in a particularly heinous manner and sentenced him to 17 years in prison.

In the spring of 2023 Kanius left for the war, being at the disposal of the Directorate of State Prisons of Russia in the Rostov region.

In the summer, the parents of the murdered Vera learned that Kanius is free and, judging by the photos and other evidence, he was serving in the “Storm Z” convict unit of the Russian Ministry of Defense. In July, the police officers who had been called by the neighbors during the murder of the young student received a suspended sentence.

Major Mikhail Vlasov, Captain Dmitry Tarlistin and police operator Maria Panomaryova were sentenced to 2 years suspended prison terms, while police operators Maria Dunayeva and Kristina Yudintseva were sentenced to 1.5 years suspended prison terms.

Vera Pekheliova was murdered on the night of January 14, 2020. On the day of her murder, she had gone to Vladislav Kanius with whom she had recently broken up to get her things.

Sources: AMPE, NovayaGazeta Europe, Svoboda.org, Meduza