A Russian serial killer who has been serving a life sentence in prison since 2015 hopes to fight in Ukraine alongside the Wagner band, but only after winter to avoid getting cold.
Mikhail Popkov became aware of the Wagner missionary group’s recruitment campaign in Russian penal institutions from his cell, from where he also gave an interview to a Russian state television channel.
In this interview, the man confided that fighting in Ukraine would be his dream and that his skills as a former police officer would come in handy, but preferably after the colder months.
“After all, this is not a video game or a fictional book about superheroes. If we face reality, to say it with honesty and objectivity, if I can wait until January and February – which for me are the coldest – and then fight, then I would accept without hesitation,” he said. he advanced.
“I could bring my military knowledge, I think there is a demand. Even if the equipment is more modern today – with electronic radios for example –; even though I’ve spent the last ten years in prison, I don’t think it’s that hard to relearn,” he added.
For the moment, the militia and its leader Evgueni Prigojine have not responded to Mikhail Popkov’s request, according to RTBF, a Belgian radio and television station.
The man who is nicknamed “the maniac of Angarsk” killed 79 women and a policeman. He was arrested in 2012 and sentenced a first time in 2015 to life imprisonment, then a second time in 2018 with the same sentence.
He would have confessed to his crimes in 2020.
In June 2021, he was sentenced by a city court to 9 years and 8 months in prison.
He carried out most of his crimes in the city of Angarsk in Siberia and killed his victims with axes or hammers, hence his nickname.
Only two women are said to have survived his attacks.
– With information from AFP