A person who killed an acquaintance due to a dispute about the war was pardoned for participating in it

A resident of Belgorod, Andrei Michaelis, convicted of murdering an acquaintance due to a dispute over the war in Ukraine, was released from punishment after he himself took part in the so-called special military operation.

In October 2022, the Belgorod District Court sentenced Mikhaelis to ten and a half years in a penal colony. According to the materials of the criminal case, in April of the same year, he was drinking moonshine with a friend, a conflict arose between them “because of different views on the ongoing special operation in Ukraine”, during which Michaelis beat the fellow drinker to death with a metal stick and a scoop.

The case file also states that the deceased was found naked on a sofa, on which lay the Russian flag covered in blood, and that the accused of the murder filmed everything that was happening.

It is noted that prior to this, Mikhaelis has already been brought to criminal responsibility several times: in 2014, he was convicted on the charge of causing harm to health, in 2017 – on the drug case, and in 2018 – for evasion of administrative supervision.

After the verdict on the charge of murder, Michaelis, while in the colony, signed a contract and went to war in Ukraine. Six months later, he was, in all likelihood, pardoned by the decree of the President of Russia.