Court denies Volgograd resident's claim about torture in colonies

The Volgograd Regional Court has rejected the lawsuit lodged by Vladimir Khlyntsev, a serviceman for the "Wagner" Private Military Company (PMC) against two penal colonies and the Russian Ministry of Finance (MoF) concerning torturous custody conditions. After returning from the special military operation (SMO) zone, where he had got from his colony, he filed the above lawsuit claiming that in winter there was no hot water and heating in penal colonies.

In his lawsuit, he stated that in Volgograd colonies he lived in dormitories, where each convict had a little more than a square meter of space; and walls were covered with mould. Besides, there was no hot water or heating in the colony.

The court had earlier denied the lawsuit, citing the fact that hot water supply was not provided in barracks, and all sanitary standards were observed there.

Back in 2011, Vladimir Khlyntsev was found guilty of theft, and in 2012, he was convicted of another theft involving murder and arson of the apartment where the crime was committed. As a result, he was sentenced to 14 years in colony. The presidential decree on his pardoning was issued on September 11, 2022, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* project reported.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.