How a Tyumen Man's Defense of Children Led to His Imprisonment

Autumn, November 1992. A frightened neighbor boy named Sasha ran into the apartment of Igor R., an ordinary Tyumen resident. Wiping tears mixed with blood from his face, he said that some drunk men in a store had hit him on the head with a bottle and jabbed shards into his face because he wouldn«t let them cut in line to buy vodka. Igor decided to find and shame the boy»s offenders. The series of events that followed led to him being arrested, not once but twice. Here«s how it all happened.

On 2 November 1994, at 04:25, Igor R. wrote a revealing letter from the pretrial detention center to the local newspaper «Tyumen Vedomosti». Below are excerpts from it.

The Unwholesome House and a Hollow Oath

Sasha the neighbor was 13. He lived with his mother, who had seen much hardship in life. He didn«t know his father. There was no one to stand up for the boy, and Igor knew it. Without hesitation, he decided he would be the protector. He found Sasha»s offenders fairly quickly; they turned out to be two brothers. One was a little over 30, the other about the same.

— I tracked them down and, cornering them, set a condition: that within 24 hours they go to the boy«s mother, apologize, and settle everything. I threatened that if they didn»t, I«d disfigure both of them—just like they did the kid. The brothers were very drunk, but they understood this was no joke. They swore to do their utmost to make amends, — Igor began his story.

Two days later, there was a knock at his apartment door. Igor was feeding his one-year-old son, and his wife was cooking something tasty. Opening the door, he saw Sasha and his friend Yana, both the same age, on the doorstep, both crying. But they managed to tell about the events of the previous evening.

— The brothers came to ask Sasha«s mother for forgiveness. A bottle of vodka appeared on the table, which she and they drank. Then, as a sign of reconciliation, they invited Sasha and Yana to their place, and they foolishly agreed. There was a party going on. The teenagers were seated at the table. Sasha was flattered that adult men were giving him attention as an equal. Soon he fell asleep drunk. One of the brothers dragged Yana by force into another room, threw her on a bunk, and raped her. In the morning, she told Sasha and his mother about it, — the letter»s author continued.

Soon, neighbors from all over the district—Lesobaza—gathered at his place. These men wanted only one thing: to take the law into their own hands.

— Our district is one big village, and any news spreads at the speed of light. <…> I borrowed a car from an acquaintance, put Sasha and Yana, my wife«s brother, and a neighbor in it, and went to Parfenovo to find the house where it all happened. After wandering around the settlement, we finally found it. The door was wide open, smoke was thick. A large drunken company had reached the peak of their revelry. The moment we entered, a ringing silence fell, — Igor continued.

Finding out who had assaulted the defenseless Yana, he grabbed Vladimir (that was the man«s name) and dragged him outside. At that moment, he still didn»t know what he would do to him. He could have beaten him severely, but chance intervened.

— Suddenly, a boy of about four or five ran out from the next room, ran up to Vladimir, grabbed his pants with his hands, and asked: «Where are you going, Dad?» Some force froze my movements. I looked at this child, at his dirty, tear-stained face, and realized I couldn«t raise a hand against his father. I found the strength to control myself. Vladimir understood that the moment of reckoning was near, fell to his knees, and began to wail: »Guys! Have mercy! It was all because of drunkenness! I«ll settle everything! I»ll pay whatever you want! I swear!« — he recalls.

The brothers were given a condition: either the next day they would come to the teenagers« mothers and apologize in person, or they shouldn»t complain later. But neither the next day nor the day after did Sasha and Yana«s offenders show up in Lesobaza.

Carpets, a TV, and a Visit from OMON

Igor«s neighbors in the district were eager to go and explain with their fists that you can»t treat children like that. He told them that five people would be enough to go with him. Arriving, Igor got out of the car first, the others followed. In the house were only Vladimir«s wife and his mother: they were drinking vodka in the kitchen.

— I asked the wife why the brothers hadn«t settled everything, to which she sarcastically replied: »And they don«t give a damn about you… As soon as you left the day before yesterday, so did they. So you can search high and low.» One of the men declared that there was no need to run after these bastards. Here were several rolled-up carpets, a TV, on a hanger—a fur coat: «Let»s take them, and when the brothers settle all the issues, they«ll get these things back safe and sound.» I assured Vladimir«s wife that nothing would happen to the things. After that, we left, — Igor continued.

Three days later, the brothers still hadn«t come for the things. Instead, OMON (Special Purpose Mobile Unit) officers showed up. Of all people, their visit was definitely unexpected.

— I was surrounded by guys with assault rifles. They suggested I drive the car out of the garage and go where they indicated. I obeyed without a word and, escorted by three riflemen, went to the ROVD (district police department). In the duty room stood six or seven men from Lesobaza with clear signs of fresh beatings. I was immediately taken to an office by investigators who stated that OMON had nothing to do with this operation: it all came from the brothers, — Igor wrote in the letter.

The next day, Igor«s wife asked the district prosecutor to release him from custody, but received a categorical refusal. Moreover, criminal proceedings were initiated against the defender of Sasha and Yana under the article »Robbery«.

— From the first days, the ROVD investigator took only the fact of my visit to the brothers« house as the basis. Everything that preceded this didn»t interest the investigator. I was put in a pretrial detention center, and for two months everyone forgot about me. I wasn«t called for interrogations or confrontations. While I was in isolation, the brothers» family regularly came to my home and terrorized my wife, demanding 500,000 rubles (approximately $6,700 at current rates) to cover the loss from the lawsuit. She had to go sleep at relatives« and friends» places, — he noted.

Persecution, Arrest, and an Unexpected Court Verdict

The sanction for the arrest of the justice fighter, issued by the prosecutor, ended on 10 January 1993. The detention center administration quietly, without any fuss, released him. At the gates, he was met by his wife with their son in her arms and a lawyer. The latter advised him to personally check with the investigator how the investigation was progressing and what to do next.

— The investigator, without explaining anything, took a signed pledge not to leave town from me and gave me all my documents. I didn«t yet know that in the corridors of the prosecutor»s office lay a new approved sanction for my arrest. It was around these days that an article about me came out in «Tyumen Vedomosti». After the publication, friends, comrades, colleagues, acquaintances, and strangers came to us. They offered their help. My wife and I were sincerely grateful, but we refused help, believing that all the troubles were over, — continued Igor R.

And for a long time, everything indeed quieted down. But one late evening, when he was returning home from acquaintances, someone started shooting at him from a parked UAZ van. Igor hid from the bullets behind the nearest buildings, remaining safe and sound.

— The next day, I left Tyumen [for another city]. Two weeks later, leaving the apartment under the watch of relatives and neighbors, my wife and son moved in with me. I realized that a hunt had been opened for me… I lived and worked peacefully until July 1994, when a convoy from Tyumen arrived. I was arrested again. The same investigator declared in a lordly tone: «Hoping to achieve justice with the help of a newspaper? You»ll get it! In full measure, so others won«t be tempted!» — says Igor.

And so it happened. In October 1994, a trial was held based on the materials of the criminal case initiated in November 1992. The list of items allegedly stolen from the victims had grown to 60 points. The criminal case materials indicated that there was no prior conspiracy, no intent for gain, and no weapons. The lawyer asked for an acquittal, but the court decided otherwise: 8 years of imprisonment in a strict-regime colony.

— Everything became clear immediately. On the brothers« side—relatives and connections. On mine—only people»s sympathy. From my example, hundreds of people concluded that if you become a random witness to violence, you should just walk by. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has no article for not seeing or hearing anything. I don«t know what awaits me ahead. My soul aches for my son and wife. Who will protect them, feed them, clothe them? Who will help my sick retired mother and elderly grandmother? How have I angered God and you, people? — so Igor R. ended his letter.

His subsequent fate, as well as how the lives of Sasha, Yana, and those very brothers turned out, remain a mystery.

Other stories about high-profile crimes from the past can be found in the section «Criminal Tyumen». For example:

• «Bodies Covered with Gravel»: Why a Tyumen Law Enforcement Officer Shot Two Brothers with a Service Makarov in the 90s;

• Tyumen Theater of Death: Gang Staged Murder Scenes and Kidnapped Businessmen for 20 Years;

• All That Remained: A Jacket, a Briefcase, and Blood. Tyumen Deputy Kidnapped 25 Years Ago Still Missing.