On October 29, the Belgorod media outlet Pepel reported that during the previous night in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, a Russian serviceman allegedly killed a local resident and raped the man’s wife. Later, Fonar said the victim was named Sergey, he was 56 years old, and worked at a large enterprise in Shebekino. According to media reports, his wife is a schoolteacher.
On October 30, the Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case against serviceman Alexey Kostrikin and that he had been detained. The official statement said he entered the house alone, but villagers told Pepel that there may have been several servicemen.
The following evening, according to the authorities, 40-year-old Kostrikin escaped from the military commissariat in Belgorod. He was later seen in an underground passage in the city center. On the morning of November 1, according to investigators and local media, he hijacked a Renault Logan while trying to evade pursuit. After that, police began checking cars at all exits from Belgorod, and local media published wanted notices.
“Late in the evening, a suspect in these crimes escaped from custody. Law enforcement agencies are now taking all necessary measures to locate and capture him,” Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, ordering closer coordination among police, self-defense units, volunteer patrols, and military police.
By midday on November 1, the stolen car had been found, but the suspect was no longer inside. The vehicle was returned to its owner. Later that day, several local outlets reported that Kostrikin had been detained, but police did not confirm it. A Belgorod resident told Novaya Gazeta Europe that he had not noticed increased police patrols or visible panic among residents. The city has a facial-recognition camera system, but the serviceman had reportedly still not been found at that point.
The publication also noted that this was not the first case in Belgorod Region involving crimes attributed to Russian servicemen. Earlier reports mentioned fatal road accidents involving military vehicles, as well as rapes and attempted rapes of civilians, including one case involving an 11-year-old girl.