Woman, 27, stabbed to death outside women's crisis center in St. Petersburg
A man killed his former partner with a knife at the entrance to a women's support center in St. Petersburg's Kalininsky district. Russia has failed to pass a domestic violence law for more than ten years.
A man has killed a 27-year-old woman with a knife at the entrance to a women's support center in the Kalininsky district of St. Petersburg, Russia, according to the local news outlet Fontanka. The case has again drawn attention to the absence of a domestic violence law in Russia.
The attack at the door
The woman was waiting for someone to open the door. The man stabbed her several times and then slit her throat. Footage published by Fontanka shows she had managed to open the door and step inside, but the attacker forcibly dragged her back out.
He then walked about half a kilometer away, called the emergency number 112 and confessed to the killing. He was detained, and a criminal case has been opened.
Background
Fontanka reports that the attacker was the woman's former live-in partner. The Telegram channel Baza says he beat her regularly. In September she decided to leave him and went into hiding. He first reported her missing to police and then began looking for her himself.
The domestic violence law
Attempts to adopt a domestic violence law in Russia have been going on for more than ten years. The New People party tried again in 2024, but the government did not back the bill. In 2026, Andrey Klishas, chair of the Federation Council's Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, said Russia had yet to find its own way of combating domestic violence that would win support across different parts of society. Nina Ostanina, chair of the State Duma's Committee on Family Protection, said such a law could scare men away from marriage.
