the essential Mikhail Popkov, one of the worst criminals in the history of Russia, wants to be released to join the Wagner Group paramilitaries and go to support the Russian army in Ukraine.
Mikhail Popkov, a 58-year-old former police officer, is possibly the worst serial killer in Russian history, with 83 admitted murders. But the assassin, who has been in prison for years, recently made headlines in Russia after declaring in an interview that he wanted to join Wagner’s mercenaries.
Popkov wants to use the offer that Evguéni Prigojine, Wagner’s boss, made to Russian prisoners: the criminals are free if they first agree to fight at the front in Ukraine for six months.
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A prolific assassin
Mikhail Popkov began his career as an assassin when the USSR fell. His modus operandi was to offer passersby his patrol car to drop them off. He then took them to remote areas to kill, maim and then rape them, earning him the nickname “Werewolf”.
This is how the killer acted for 20 years, from 1992 to 2012, in the cities of Angarsk, and then Vladivostok. Found by the police thanks to DNA tests, he was then sentenced to two life sentences after confessing to 22 murders and then more than 50 others.
The “Madman from Angarsk” has been behind bars ever since. But Russian state television organized a strange interview with Popkov, who was detained near the city of Orenburg.
An ideal recruit for Wagner
During the interview, when asked “What is your dream?”, Popkov replies “to join the army.” The prisoner then gets angry: “If I were to say that it is my wish, I would not be completely sincere. After all, it’s not a video game, it’s not a novel, it’s not a superhero story.”
“But to be honest and objective, if I have to wait again during the January-February period, which is the coldest time – for me there’s nothing worse than the frost – then I’ll sign immediately,” Popkov added.
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“And when I think about my military profile, they’re looking for it right now,” the serial killer continues, without saying whether he’s referring to his crimes or his work as a police officer.
“Even though I was in prison for ten years, I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble getting back in,” concludes Popkov, whose candidacy is being reviewed by the Wagner mercenary group.