St. Petersburg’s squirrel killer escapes criminal punishment thanks to WWII amnesty

Elisha Vladimirov, an academy student in St. Petersburg accused to shooting and killing a squirrel in a park in August 2014, has been amnestied in connection with the commemoration the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II.

According to the local news website Fontanka, the judge reclassified the charges against Vladimirov from “hooliganism” to “animal cruelty,” convicting him and sentencing him to community service, immediately amnestying him.

Vladimirov says he shot the squirrel with a pneumatic gun after it attacked him and bit into this sneakers. The animal allegedly took a fighting stance after the initial skirmish, and Vladimirov says he felt it was beneath his dignity to turn and retreat from an opponent, as it might have pounced from behind.

Fontanka followed the case closely and even released a video reenactment of the crime, trying to depict how a squirrel might have posed a serious threat to a human being.

During the hearing, the prosecutor questioned the defendant's claim of self-defense, saying it was absurd and comparing the physical dimensions of a squirrel and a tall, strongly-built adult man.