‘So Russians don’t fear them’ Putin administration tells pro-government media not to report on crimes committed by returning soldiers

Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP / Scanpix / LETA

Two sources close to the Russian government have told Meduza that the Putin administration has instructed the country’s state-controlled and pro-Kremlin media not to report on crimes committed by Russians who have returned from fighting in the war in Ukraine, including mercenaries and former convicts who received amnesty in exchange for going to war.

According to the sources, this is the Kremlin’s first directive to the propaganda media regarding coverage of crimes by former fighters, and some pro-government outlets have enthusiastically been reporting on the topic up until now. “Crime always brings good traffic, and mentioning the special military operation in the headline warms up the audience, making the news more clickable,” said one source.

In mid-October, for example, the news site Lenta.ru published a story with the headline “Former Wagner fighter returns from special military operation and stabs disabled grandmother over money.” Similar articles have appeared in pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and government-controlled local news outlets.

A public safety problem or a PR problem?

Old habits Former prisoners who joined Wagner Group in exchange for amnesty are committing new crimes back in Russia — and getting off lightly

A source close to the Putin administration told Meduza that the new restrictions are necessary “so that Russians don’t consider fighters to be potential criminals and don’t fear their return.”

The source also said that truly “patriotic journalists” understood that articles about crimes committed by veterans were inappropriate even before the Kremlin intervened. The popular pro-Kremlin tabloids Komsomolskaya Pravda and Moskovsky Komsomolets, for example, haven’t published any stories about the crimes of war participants, though they have devoted large amounts of positive coverage to them. On October 21, for example, Komsomolskaya Pravda published a story about how a “special military operation fighter” surprised his daughter at school with flowers. Another recent story published by the outlet was dedicated to a soldier who returned from Ukraine “with bouquets for his wife and mother.”

“There’s a desire to show that the guys returning from the front are really polite, sensitive, and caring people,” said Meduza’s source.

The inconvenient truth

Repeat offenders Thousands of Russian prisoners joined the army in exchange for an early release. Many have gone back to crime upon their return.

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Story by Andrey Pertsev

Translation by Sam Breazeale

‘So Russians don’t fear them’ Putin administration tells pro-government media not to report on crimes committed by returning soldiers

Old habits Former prisoners who joined Wagner Group in exchange for amnesty are committing new crimes back in Russia — and getting off lightly

Repeat offenders Thousands of Russian prisoners joined the army in exchange for an early release. Many have gone back to crime upon their return.

‘Special military operation’

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