With liberators like these Journalists uncover the violent past of the Russian soldier who broke into a home in the Kursk region and murdered a mother of three
Civilian life in Russia’s Kursk region hasn’t returned to normal since troops repelled most of the Ukrainian forces that stormed across the border last summer. Governor Alexander Khinshtein has designated a “gray zone” inside Russia’s reclaimed territory and warned displaced residents against returning. In many towns, however, people never left. These locals witnessed both the Ukrainian occupation and an influx of Russian soldiers. The would-be liberators were often violent convicts who enlisted in the army to escape prison. One such criminal surfaced in the town of Giryi on April 30, forcing his way into a family’s home, murdering a woman, shooting her husband, and terrorizing their young children. Journalists at Mediazona and Astra learned the gunman’s name and examined his troubled past.
Life and death after occupation
Chat groups where Giryi residents share information about local goings-on reveal that life in the small town remains stressful. For example, on May 1, a poorly worded post about several dozen straggling Ukrainian soldiers fanned fears that Kyiv had launched another cross-border invasion into the Kursk region. The story came two days after Dmitry Stenkin reportedly barged into a family’s home and murdered a woman.
A local Giryi man told journalists that several waves of soldiers have washed through the town. The military largely avoided the area before Ukraine’s incursion, and the first Russian troops who reached the town after the Ukrainians’ retreat were reportedly from Chechnya’s Akhmat Battalion. A video surfaced showing one of these men allegedly looting a farm and pedaling away on a bicycle, further fueling local resentment and ethnic tension.
Mediazona notes that locals who spoke openly to journalists largely avoided directly criticizing the Russian army and emphasized that soldiers have helped guard abandoned property and infused money into the town’s economy by renting living space. However, conversations in online chat rooms show that locals often complain about soldiers speeding dangerously through the streets, buying vodka despite a prohibition on alcohol in the region, and harassing women.
“Akhmat [Battalion] wrecked [soldiers’] image with the looting. Initially, there weren’t that many infantry around; they were deployed to Sudzha and elsewhere. But now it’s full-on infantry: the 155th Brigade, the 30th Regiment of the 72nd Motor Rifle Division. It’s all ex-cons, mercs, and new contract soldiers. Low-quality troops,” a contract soldier deployed last December to the Kursk region told Mediazona. “They all look broken down and stink of booze. I don’t know where they get it.” He also said locals in Giryi have criticized the army for positioning artillery and vehicles near residential homes and sending uniformed patrols through town, potentially attracting enemy fire and endangering civilians.
The same contract soldier told reporters that former prisoners and Wagner Group mercenaries were deployed to Giryi’s district in late March, when Ukrainian forces tried to breach the neighboring Belgorod region, roughly six weeks before Olesya Larina’s death.
Olesya Larina’s killer
Dmitry Stenkin was in Giryi because he enlisted in the army to avoid serving another prison term. Journalists studied his social media accounts and found evidence that he’s been in and out of jail for more than a decade. Records indicate that Stenkin’s older brother, Yuri, accidentally killed their mother in 2011 during a domestic dispute. (Yuri was sentenced to seven years in prison for the death.)
Now 39, Dmitry Stenkin suffers from alcohol dependence and a diagnosed personality disorder. In 2017, he was sentenced to 4.5 years for rape. After going free in 2021, Stenkin’s problems with the law continued, including convictions for parole violations, issuing death threats, and attacking a police officer.
When a judge added another five months to his sentence in January 2024, Stenkin apparently enlisted with the military in exchange for early release. Olesya Larina’s son and a family friend told Astra and Mediazona that he served in the 810th Separate Guards Marine Brigade, though journalists were unable to verify this information. Reporting by Verstka Media shows that the 810th suffered especially brutal losses in the battle for the Kursk region.
Olesya Larina was buried on May 2; as of publication, her husband remained in a medically induced coma. Neighbors told their son, Ilya, that Stenkin had been walking around town on the day of the murder “looking for prostitutes.” Ilya said he doesn’t know why the soldier chose to break into his family’s home, but eyewitnesses told him that Stenkin had spied on Olesya before the attack, when she went on walks with her daughters, ages six and ten.
On May 2, a military court in Kursk formally jailed Dmitry Stenkin, but officials refused to specify the criminal charge. As of this writing, no state agency and no mainstream Russian news outlet has said a word about the murder of a mother of three in Giryi.
Adapted for Meduza in English by Kevin Rothrock