The murderer of a young girl was sentenced in the Urals 22 years later.

      The Karpinsk City Court today, November 25, 2025, handed down a verdict in a criminal case concerning the murder of a minor girl committed in Volchansk 22 years ago, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Sverdlovsk Region reports.

      During the trial, it was established that the accused, a resident of Volchansk born in 1979, in December 2002 intentionally killed an 11‑year‑old girl who periodically lived in his household while the child’s mother abused alcohol. The girl would ask to spend the night with the man and his wife and stayed with them for several days at a time, helping with household chores.

      On the day of the murder the man’s wife and her friend were drinking at home. The child was visiting them at the time. At night the women went to a kiosk for cigarettes and “more,” leaving the man alone with the minor.

      While they were absent, the man had a conflict with the girl, during which he strangled the child with his bare hands.

      In order to conceal the traces of the crime, the accused buried the body in the crawl space, from where, together with relatives, he later dug it up and burned it in the forest. Only in 2023, thanks to new expert methods, examination of the presented fragments of a long bone made it possible to establish the genetic profile of the deceased and determine to whom the found remains belonged.

      The man was found guilty under subparagraph “v” of part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder of a person whom the perpetrator knew to be in a helpless state — as amended by Federal Law No. 133‑FZ of October 31, 2002). The detained man partially admitted his guilt.

      During closing arguments the state prosecutor asked the court to sentence the defendant to 25 years in a strict‑regime penal colony with disqualification from engaging in activities involving work with children for eight years. Taking into account the position of the state prosecutor, the Karpinsk City Court imposed exactly the punishment that had been requested.

      Earlier, a court in Yekaterinburg sentenced guardian Veronika Naumova to 24 years’ imprisonment for killing a 6‑year‑old boy. The child had been living in Naumova’s home with her and her husband while his biological father was serving a sentence in a penal colony.