A convicted serial killer recruited to fight in Ukraine has disappeared after reportedly escaping from a military rehabilitation hospital, triggering a frantic manhunt and fresh scrutiny of Russia’s prison-to-frontline recruitment strategy.

Andrey Kiyko, known as the “Sosnovka Maniac”, was serving a 25-year sentence for murder, robbery and sexual assault before securing a contract with Russia’s Defence Ministry in 2024.

From Prison Cell To Battlefield

Russian authorities had previously claimed violent sexual offenders were barred from military service. Yet Kiyko was still sent to fight in Ukraine as Moscow scrambled to replenish heavy battlefield losses.

The 41-year-old was reportedly wounded in combat in early 2025 and transferred to a rehabilitation centre in Kronstadt near St Petersburg.

What happened next is now fuelling accusations of a cover-up inside Russia’s security apparatus.

Escape Hidden For Months

According to Russian outlet 47news, Kiyko escaped from the medical facility late last year. But authorities allegedly concealed the disappearance for months before officially declaring him wanted in May 2026.

Reports claim police were initially kept completely unaware of the escape. Only after internal investigators became involved did the search operation begin.

Armed officers and military personnel are now combing parts of the Leningrad region, including around the settlement of Ropsha, where residents reportedly saw undercover officers circulating the fugitive’s photograph.

The Lawsuit That Exposed The Lie

Court records added another bizarre twist to the case.

Before vanishing, Kiyko reportedly filed legal action against Russia’s Defence Ministry over unpaid combat compensation linked to his military service. The case helped expose contradictions in official timelines surrounding his disappearance.

The episode has intensified criticism of Moscow’s wartime policy of recruiting convicts directly from penal colonies.

War Returns Home

Russia has increasingly relied on prisoners to sustain troop numbers as the war drags into its fifth year. But critics warn the programme is now feeding violent offenders back into civilian society with military training, combat experience and reduced oversight.

Recent Russian media reports detailed another former convict soldier being jailed again after allegedly abducting and torturing a woman in Tuva.

Now security forces are racing to find Kiyko before another violent crime forces even deeper questions onto the Kremlin’s doorstep.

Russian serial killer was sent to war — now he is missing and Putin's people are lying about it

Not exactly a Hugo Stiglitz is he.

Cheaper to send convicts into the meatgrinder than execution or feeding them for decades.

27 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Cheaper to send convicts into the meatgrinder than execution or feeding them for decades.

True, the only problem is if they come back alive and start terrorising Russian citizens.

The Russian public should be grateful to Ukraine for sending these killers to the next life.

Oh come on. The Ukrainian military has Russia troops almost chased back to Moscow as Putin runs out of missiles made from North Korean washing machine parts and the Russian economy (the ruble is rubble) collapses. Moscovites can't find bread on the store shelves and are about to overthrow Putin's dictatorship, so Putin orders the dissidents rounded up and sent to Ukrainian Front where they face sure death from superior NATO-trained Ukrainian Freedom Fighters. Slave Ukraine 🇺🇦

I thought most of the Russian army in Ukraine are serial killers. I could be wrong.

Did they ever consider checking the hotel occupiers lists in the Wongamat beach area?

11 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Cheaper to send convicts into the meatgrinder than execution or feeding them for decades.

Literally its not cheaper than "execution". A 7.62×25mm Tokarev is about 50 cents. Russian soldiers might be relatively poorly equipped, but they are getting more than 50 cents of kit. A set up in standard Ratnik-II second gen modular combat system is about 200k rubles.

The Russians aren't pulling convicts out of prison to save on money. I would have thought you knew that the Russian Defence Ministry has been extremely profligate in spending since 2022.