Russian war veteran critically injures ex-girlfriend in St. Petersburg acid attack

A 26-year-old woman in St. Petersburg is in critical condition after her former partner, a Ukraine war veteran with a criminal history, attacked her with acid and a knife at her home on Saturday evening.

According to reports on Sunday from local news outlets Ostorozhno Petersburg and 78 Novosti, the woman’s ex-boyfriend Sergey Mikhailov ambushed her at the entrance to her home in central St. Petersburg armed with a pistol, a knife, pepper spray, and a container of nitric acid.

The victim received serious chemical burns to her face, neck, and chest, as well as several stab wounds. During the attack, Mikhailov reportedly shouted that nothing would happen to him because he would soon return to fight in Ukraine.

After fleeing the scene, Mikhailov managed to evade police for several hours. During that time he answered a call from journalists, and told them his attack was justified because he believed “any betrayal or treason must be punished”.

Mikhailov was subsequently located and detained by police, and investigators opened a criminal case against him for attempted murder. On Monday, a district court in St. Petersburg sent him to pretrial detention for at least two months.

The victim’s father told 78 Novosti that Mikhailov had originally gone to fight in Ukraine after being convicted of fraud and weapons possession, making him one of hundreds of Russian convicts who have received suspended sentences in exchange for service on the front lines.

The conviction stemmed from a previous incident in which Mikhailov allegedly attacked his first wife with a knife. A charge of attempted murder in that instance was reduced to grievous bodily harm, the father said.

It is unclear whether Mikhailov will be able to escape a prison sentence for his latest attack by volunteering to return to Ukraine. However, since 2024 Russia’s criminal code has allowed for a range of violent criminals, including murderers and rapists, to reduce their sentences by signing military contracts.

An investigation by media outlet Verstka in April found that at least 13 people accused of murder, as well as 11 accused of causing bodily harm resulting in death, had signed contracts in exchange for early release or lighter sentencing since the criminal code was updated.

The return of Russian soldiers from the front lines in Ukraine, including violent convicts released from prison, has been linked to a noticeable increase in Russia’s violent crime rate, which hit a 15-year high in 2025.

In February, Novaya Gazeta Europe found that around 8,000 veterans of the war in Ukraine had been convicted of civilian offences since 2022. Veterans were over twice as likely as the general male population to be convicted of murder, grievous bodily harm, and assault.