Russia hails soldier as war hero despite pedophilia investigation, report finds
Schools across Russia's Komi Republic held memorial lessons for a soldier killed in Ukraine who was posthumously named a Russian hero, but journalists say he had been under police surveillance over a child sex abuse case and fled to the front to escape prosecution and debt.
On September 2, schools throughout Russia's Komi Republic held special commemorative lessons dedicated to Aleksandr Vlasenkov, a corporal killed while fighting in Ukraine. By decree of Vladimir Putin, Vlasenkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia. A monument and several memorial plaques have been erected in his home region, and the school he attended has opened a museum in his honor. During the lessons, students watched a film about him and heard accounts of his life.
The campaign glorifying his death was led in part by Aleksandr Matovnikov, a former member of Putin's personal security detail, who had reportedly encouraged Vlasenkov to volunteer for combat.
A hidden past
However, an investigation by The Insider found that the soldier now celebrated as a hero had a far darker record. Vlasenkov, a former world and Russian junior hand-to-hand combat champion, had been placed on a special registry maintained by Russia's Interior Ministry for individuals suspected of pedophilia — he had allegedly attempted to rape a 13-year-old boy.
He was also deeply in debt. Between 2019 and 2021, he took out loans in his own name totaling around 500,000 rubles (then roughly 5,700 euros), and borrowed nearly another 400,000 rubles (about 4,600 euros) using his grandmother's passport. For about a year, he evaded both debt collectors and bailiffs, even skipping a competition in Kaliningrad out of fear he would be detained during an airport police check.
Because of his inclusion on the Interior Ministry's registry, Vlasenkov remained under regular police supervision. According to The Insider, it was precisely these mounting problems — the pedophilia investigation and his debts — that drove him to volunteer for the war in Ukraine, allowing him to escape police oversight.
