Irkutsk man kills woman after hostage-taking in jealousy rage

A resident of Irkutsk took a woman hostage and killed her, staging a jealousy scene for his wife. The horrific story, which took place on the night of January 28, was published by the head of the Irkutsk charity fund «Obereg» Alexander Sobolev on the organization«s page. The fact of the incident was confirmed to »IrCity« by an informed source in law enforcement agencies.

The incident occurred on the evening of January 27 in one of the residential buildings in the Raduzhny district. Photos and videos from the scene were published on social networks.

The victim was an Irkutsk woman — a ward of «Obereg», she left behind two children. According to Alexander Sobolev, she became a participant in the unfortunate events by chance.

«For several months, the man had been terrorizing his wife and their 7-year-old son. It was more than just beatings — real torture with knife slashing, kicks, humiliation. We sheltered them, protected them, repeatedly alerted the police. The scumbag, not coming up with anything better, yesterday evening [January 27] chose a random, innocent victim. Putting a knife to her, he took to his apartment a completely different resident of »Obereg«, took her hostage at 9 p.m. at a bus stop near a store. In her place could have been anyone who didn»t appeal to him,« wrote Sobolev.

The alleged criminal was persuaded to release the woman for several hours; the operation involved police officers, traffic police, emergency services, and other emergency and special services. The outcome was sad: the man strangled the victim and surrendered only after that.

«This morning we called the children»s grandmother and temporarily handed the children over to her. We involved our psychologists, a bit later the children will be told what happened to their mother,« added Sobolev.

According to a source of «IrCity» in law enforcement agencies, the attacker was connected to a military structure, therefore the investigation is being handled by the military police and the military Investigative Committee.

This is not the first family conflict that ended in tragedy in the Irkutsk region since the beginning of 2026. During the January holidays two children were killed in Ust-Ilimsk, their father came under suspicion, who wounded himself with a knife and died in the hospital. As it turned out, before the incident, he had a quarrel with his wife, also on the basis of jealousy. Law enforcement officers found drugs in the apartment where it all happened.