Man convicted of murdering Russian journalist Politkovskaya was pardoned and is fighting in Ukraine

Sergei Hadzhikurbanov, former operative officer of the Russian regional directorate for countering organised crime, convicted of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian Novaya Gazeta journalist, was pardoned and went on to fight in Ukraine on the side of Russia.

Source: Russian Telegram channel Baza, RBC

Details: In 2014, Hadzhikurbanov was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The official term of his imprisonment was supposed to last until 2034.

As it was discovered by Baza, Hadzhikurbanov joined the war in Ukraine at the end of 2022.

Allegedly, he began his service as commander of the intelligence department. According to the source, he "repeatedly went behind enemy lines, performing specific tasks as an intelligence officer with his fighters".

After six months of "service" as a convict, Hadzhikurbanov was pardoned and now participates in the war as a civilian who concluded a contract with the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

For reference: Anna Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta  journalist, was killed on 7 October 2006 in the entrance to an apartment building in Moscow. The person who ordered the murder was not found, but the investigators consider Lom-Ali Gaitukayev to be the organiser of the crime. In 2014, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, in 2017 he died in prison.

In addition to Gaitukayev, his nephews Dzhabrail Makhmudov, Ibrahim Makhmudov and Rustam Makhmudov, Hadzhikurbanov, a former employee of the regional directorate for countering organised crime, and lieutenant colonel Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a former employee of the Moscow police department, were found guilty of organising and executing the murder of Politkovskaya.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is pardoning prisoners convicted in the Russian Federation, in particular on serious charges, to send them to fight in the war against Ukraine.

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