Former prisoner becomes deputy head of Leningrad Oblast governor's fund. He was tried for amphetamine production and pardoned after participating in the war in Ukraine

Former Wagner PMC mercenary and participant in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Dmitry Karavaychik has become deputy director of the Leningrad Frontier Foundation, established by the governor of the Leningrad Region. Karavaychik himself told Important Stories about this.

"I currently hold the position of deputy director of the fund, I provide full assistance on security issues. We work on humanitarian aid, we cooperate with the Leningrad Region military registration and enlistment office. I will soon have a business trip to the SVO zone," he said.

Karavaychik is a veterinarian from St. Petersburg who was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2019 for producing and selling amphetamine. He claimed that the amphetamine was planted on him by police officers, and that he himself sold crushed tablets under the guise of drugs in order to find money to develop prosthetics for animals. The press compared Karavaychik to the main character of the Breaking Bad series, school teacher Walter White, who produced amphetamine.

In January 2023, it became known that Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Karavaychik for participating in the war in Ukraine as part of the Wagner PMC. According to Important Stories, after the end of his first six-month contract, Karavaychik signed another one and then returned to St. Petersburg.

In March 2023, Rotonda reported that Putin also pardoned Karavaichik's wife, former physics teacher Diana Gribovskaya, who was involved in the same case as her husband and sentenced to 16 years in prison. According to the former prisoner and mercenary, his wife continues to work as a teacher after her release. "But not at school, but where it is necessary," Karavaichik told Important Stories, without specifying where exactly Gribovskaya works.

• Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko created the Leningrad Frontier fund in August 2022 with the support of St. Petersburg businessman Ilya Traber , wrote Vazhie Istorii. Over the eight months of its work, the fund collected 56 million rubles from residents of the region and business representatives to help the military, but about 10 million never reached the front.