Saratov (Russia) - A man convicted of murder in Russia has killed another woman after returning from the war against Ukraine. An arrest warrant for murder was issued for the 35-year-old in the city of Saratov on the Volga after he stabbed his girlfriend to death in a store during a relationship dispute, according to investigators.

They also published a video of the crime scene. The man had already been convicted of murder in 2021, as Russian media reported, because he also stabbed his wife to death in a store at the time. The women had wanted to separate from the man.

Like many convicted perpetrators of violence in Russia, the suspect had volunteered to serve in the war against Ukraine and thus bought his freedom, including a pardon from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Human rights activists have long seen the system as a danger to Russian society because convicted felons repeatedly commit violent acts after returning from the front.

Tens of thousands of convicted criminals have been released in Russia as a result of the war effort.

According to research by the pro-Kremlin internet platform "Vyorstka", as of the end of September, there were new criminal proceedings against 246 former convicts and 180 soldiers after more than two and a half years of war. They had killed 242 people in Russia since the start of the war and 227 people had been injured, it said.

Women's rights activists also repeatedly point out that those returning from the war are driving up cases of domestic violence and bringing a high potential for aggression into society overall.