Satanist who ate four teens in sick ritual freed from prison for sinister reason
The Russian killer received a 20-year sentence in a maximum security facility for his appalling crimes, having been part of a group that abducted, murdered, dismembered and then consumed the teenagers.
Yet merely 13 years into his term, Ogolobyak was amongst the dangerous felons released by Russian President Vladimir Putin to be recruited for combat in Ukraine.
In 2010, Ogolobyak faced charges for murder, robbery, and desecrating a corpse. But by 2023, he received a pardon as Russia's military "ramped up" its war efforts.
Ogolobyak's cult, established in 2006 by then-15 year old Konstantin Klyk Baranov, consumed their victims' organs at Ogolobyak's flat in 2008, according to court documents cited by Russian publication 76.ru., reports the Express.
The sect conducted "bloody rituals" for several years, slaughtering dogs and cats for sacrifices and using their blood to initiate new members. By 2008, the violence had escalated and eight members killed and dismembered four Yaroslavl college students. Putin frees cannibal killer Nikolai Ogolobyak (Image: VK)
The defendants received sentences ranging from eight to 20 years in prison. Ogolobyak was given 20 years in a maximum security colony.
Russia has been extensively recruiting from prisons for months as the conflict with Ukraine continues. The British Ministry of Defence noted in May 2023 Russia's military had "ramped up" its recruitment of prison inmates, yet it still couldn't keep pace with the casualty rates in Ukraine.
Ogolobyak's father revealed to 76.ru that his son served six months with Russia's infamous "Storm Z" unit, which has been active on the front lines in Ukraine.
"This is true. He served there for six months in Storm Z. After being wounded, he is disabled. He is walking, but the wound was serious," Ogolobyak's father said, also mentioning that due to the severity of his injuries, it's unlikely his son will be sent back to fight in Ukraine.
It's reported Ogolobyak returned from Ukraine on 2 November 2023 and has since been living with his mother. This news surfaces amidst criticism faced by the Kremlin over Putin's pardon of Vladislav Kanyus, a man convicted of murdering his 23 year old ex-girlfriend.
Kanyus received a 17-year sentence last July in a maximum-security prison for the 2020 murder of Vera Pekhteleva in Kemerovo, Siberia.
Prisoners are "atoning with blood for crimes on the battlefield, in assault brigades, under bullets, under shells," said Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov to journalists in 2023.
The mother of the slain woman revealed in June that she discovered Kanyus had travelled to Ukraine to participate in the war. On 8 November, human rights activist Alena Popova stated that Putin had granted a pardon to Kanyus.
According to Agentstvo, a Russian investigative site established in 2021, at least 17 individuals who committed high-profile murders - including Kanyus - were pardoned to fight in Ukraine in 2022 and 2023.
The publication reported that all these murderers participated in the war in Ukraine, and some have reoffended upon their return to Russia.
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