Inclusion of convicted rapist and murderer on war memorial causes outrage in Russia’s Ural region

A photograph of a convicted rapist and murderer that was included in a temporary war memorial in the town of Chebarkul, in the Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Urals, according to independent news channel 7x7, has been removed, it emerged on Tuesday.

On Monday relatives of other soldiers who were included in the display sent a video message to Deputy Chelyabinsk Governor Stanislav Mosharov to complain both about the inclusion of Denis Sinitsyn, who raped and killed a woman before gouging out her eyes in 2014, and the poor overall quality of the display itself.

“We told the authorities you can’t hang Sinitsyn’s picture up in public. This is a small town. People remember the murder. We were scared to leave our homes. People walk past this and are outraged,” one woman said in the video.

According to Sibir.Realii, the Siberian affiliate of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Sinitsyn was recruited from prison to fight in Ukraine. He died in January 2023.

The official Chebarkul Telegram channel said on Tuesday that Sinitsyn’s photo had been removed, before going on to explain that the poor quality of the displays was due to the “low quality of the photographic material” provided by the families of the dead.

“In some cases, we managed to replace them with better photos, where available. As of 12 November, installation … is ongoing, and not yet 50% complete,” the local authorities said, adding that stainless steel had been chosen as the principal material for the monument, ensuring durability and the lack of additional maintenance required.