Russian Historian Confesses to Murder After Discovery of Severed Arms

Oleg Sokolov and his victim, Anastasia Yeshchenko, at a Napoleon re-enactment for which Sokolov was famous. (Smotri)

Oleg Sokolov, a prominent Russian historian and Napoleon reenactor, confessed on November 11 to the murder of his girlfriend and former student, Anastasia Yeshchenko, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Law enforcement agencies accused Sokolov of murdering Yeshchenko after they discovered two severed arms in his backpack upon rescuing him, drunk, from a river late on the night of November 9.

Police pulled Sokolov from the Moika River in St. Petersburg after hearing cries for help; upon extracting him, they discovered two severed arms in backpack. While Sokolov recovered from mild hypothermia in the hospital, police searched his apartment, where they found the headless, limbless body of Yeshchenko, as well as a bloodied saw. Yeshchenko appeared to have died of gunshot wounds, according to CNN. 

While Sokolov initially denied involvement in the murder, he eventually confessed to killing his protégé-turned-lover in a fit of rage. At first, he maintained that she had attempted to attack him with a knife and he had shot her in self-defense, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Friends and relatives of Yeshchenko claimed that Sokolov was frequently verbally and physically abusive with Yeshchenko, according to the BBC. 

Prior to the crime, Sokolov reached widespread acclaim for his work as Russia’s leading Napoleonic reenactor: RFE/RL reports that he created the Soviet Union’s first reenactment troupe in 1975 and was a prominent scholar of Franco-Russian history. In 2003, French President Jacques Chirac awarded Sokolov France’s highest decoration, the Legion d’Honneur, for his contribution to the popularization of French history in Russia, CNN reports.

The severity of Sokolov’s crime illustrates a bigger trend of rampant domestic abuse in Russia. In 2017, the Russian government decriminalized forms of domestic abuse, resulting in a 45 percent decrease in domestic abuse reports, according to the Guardian. Reported cases rarely gain traction, and women acting in self-defense against their abusers have faced charges resulting in years in jail, according to RFE/RL. 

Just this year, Russian teenager Darya Ageny faced trial for stabbing a man who sexually assaulted her in an alley, and authorities kept three sisters who stabbed their father to death after years of sexual, physical, and verbal abuse under house arrest for over a year before their trial, according to RFE/RL. In July, Valeriya Volodina took her case to the European Court of Human Rights after Russian law enforcement dismissed charges against her ex-boyfriend for stalking, harassment, and kidnapping. Because she had not been harmed physically, Russian officials argued that she had not experienced domestic abuse under the Russian legal definition. The court ruled in her favor, reports the New York Times, awarding her 20,000 euros.

Sokolov’s high-profile crime shines a spotlight on Russia’s domestic abuse epidemic, according to RFE/RL. Sokolov will remain in custody until the case against him reaches trial.