Three Russian soldiers in occupied eastern Ukraine were wanted in August for the murder of a fellow soldier. Their leader, Ramil Olmasbayev, asked the authorities to search for them.

Then horrific details emerged in the Russian media.

An eyewitness to the incident, who later fled the country, now describes how the three were brutally executed by their commander after witnessing the murder.

However, concrete evidence surrounding the fate of the three has been a long time coming. Now Russian authorities claim that the three alleged witnesses and the first person killed died “in the line of duty,” Russian reports say mediazone.

Accused of being drunk

The conflict began in August 2023, according to a witness to the Russian online newspaper Vote thanks Conduct the interview. Two soldiers in the Olmasbayev battalion beat a colleague because of the smell of alcohol.

The witness said that the accused soldier shot and killed the first two soldiers with a machine gun Vote thanks.

It is said that the samurai leader and some of his colleagues decided to kill those who witnessed the killing.

According to Foot Tak's source, a mobilized soldier who later left Russia with the help of a human rights organization, they were able to arrest three soldiers who witnessed the incident.

to hit

The “samurai” allegedly shot them in the knees before starting to beat them with a crowbar.

Moreover, he allegedly opened the stomachs of the three with a crowbar, according to the source, while they were still alive, and threw them onto a truck.

The bodies are said to have been burned.

The case was first discussed by the Telegram-based Russian news agency Baza, shortly after the incident. It was later reported that the three men were wanted on suspicion of being behind their colleague's murder.

In October, Baza was able to report that, on the contrary, the commander Olmasbayev, or “samurai,” and his driver were the suspects. The “samurai” allegedly reported that the three fled to be blamed for the first murder.

Documenting deaths

The independent Russian online newspaper Mediazona confirmed the identity of the four and their deaths. They checked the identities against the Russian Heritage Register, which they regularly use to document Russian deaths in Ukraine.

The man who was first killed in the brawl with a fellow soldier went by the nom de guerre 'The Artist', 39-year-old Igor Popov.

His obituary, found by MediaZona, said he died while “carrying out a mission in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” DNR is an acronym for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian separatist forces in the occupied Ukrainian province.

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Memorials

The three supposed eyewitnesses, whose stomachs were allegedly cut open with a crowbar, were also described in their obituaries as having died while on duty.

Over the past year, obituaries have appeared for the three soldiers, who all came from Bashkortostan, Russia.

In 2023, Ilsjat Nabgolin, 53, opened a memorial to himself at a school in Ufa, Russia. As such, he allegedly died while “performing tasks in the special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine,” the regime-approved term in Russia for the war in Ukraine.

In one obituary of 25-year-old Aidar Akhtyrjanov, found by MediaZona, it was claimed that he “fought for a peaceful life and defended the interests of Russia.” A memorial was also opened after him at a school in the area.

The third alleged witness is 29-year-old Savalat Rafikov. An obituary said he died in battle in the war in Ukraine.

The source, Fut Tak, had claimed in the interview that the military leader, the “samurai,” was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Mediazona tried to verify this by searching the record of Russian court decisions, but to no avail.