Belarusian maniac is imprisoned in Russia and invents new criminal cases for himself so as not to return to prison where he is tortured
And to drag out the process and stay longer in the pre-trial detention center, Oleg Saltrukovich demands an interpreter into the Belarusian language.
Oleg Saltrukovich in court
A citizen of Belarus, Oleg Saltrukovich, who is to serve time in a Russian prison until 2031, is looking for all possible legal loopholes to remain under investigation for as long as possible — he writes threats to judges and prosecutors, and then asks to be punished for it.
In Russia, Saltrukovich is known as the "Serpukhov maniac" — in 2007, the native of Brest terrorized the Moscow region. He is responsible for a series of 13 crimes against women — the murder of Serpukhov resident Elena Azarova, robberies with a knife and a pneumatic pistol, including against mothers with children.
Saltrukovich also had a criminal background in Belarus — something for theft and alimony, but it was limited to a suspended sentence. Several other cases did not reach court — robbery with attempted murder of a girl, as well as an attempt to rape another girl. At that time, Saltrukovich was already imprisoned in Russia, so the statutes of limitations in Belarus had expired.
Oleg Saltrukovich. Photo: Belpol
When the maniac was caught in Russia, he tried to feign illness — claiming he served in the French Foreign Legion. They even partially believed him — initially sending him for compulsory treatment, but a repeated examination revealed that Saltrukovich was healthy, just pretending.
As a result, Saltrukovich was given about 20 years of imprisonment and sent to a penal colony. There he received new criminal cases and new sentences — for beating employees. New charges included "disorganization of the activities of a correctional institution" and "attempted violent acts of a sexual nature".
The estimated release date is 2031, but one has yet to live to see it. Life behind bars is clearly not sweet for Saltrukovich; he claimed to have been tortured.
Therefore, the Belarusian devised a multi-step plan — to get new, minor criminal cases which would not increase his overall sentence but would help him escape the colony. During the investigation, a person must be transferred to a pre-trial detention center, and he wanted to take full advantage of this.
Oleg Saltrukovich
In 2021, Saltrukovich, who was serving his sentence in the Arkhangelsk region, sent two letters with threats from the penal colony. The first was to a judge of the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don: Saltrukovich threatened murder and harm to health if the judge did not overturn the sentence of his acquaintance. He sent a second letter with similar threats to the assistant prosecutor of the Privolzhsky District of Kazan at her workplace.
The investigators in Kazan delayed until the last moment, but ultimately were forced to initiate criminal proceedings. However, they ensured that by the time the case reached court, more than two years had passed since the "threats". This meant the court would simply stop the prosecution due to the statute of limitations.
An ordinary person would have calmed down at this point. But Saltrukovich filed an appeal, demanding that the termination of the case be revoked and returned for new consideration.
In the complaint, Saltrukovich himself explained why he wrote the letters: he took phrases and entire sentences from Boris Sedov's book "Without Love," and the real goal was to ensure that a case was opened against him and he was transferred to the Kazan pre-trial detention center — so as not to be a victim of torture in the penal colony.
However, the court did not believe the story about torture.
Another revealing detail. Saltrukovich demanded an interpreter into Belarusian and stated that as a Belarusian, he does not understand most of what is said in Russian and therefore cannot defend himself.
The court rejected this as well, noting: Russian is an official language in Belarus, Saltrukovich has lived in Russia for a long time, and he himself writes petitions and even appeals in Russian. The court also regarded his endless petitions for additional familiarization with the case as "abuse of rights and obvious delaying" of the process.
Decision of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan from May 5, 2026 — final — Saltrukovich will face no consequences for the letters with threats; no one intends to reconsider the case.
The maniac will have to return to the penal colony.