Russia’s worst rapist who killed 83 women volunteers to fight for Putin in Ukraine

Mikhail Popkov, 58, wants to join the Wagner private army to fight in Ukraine
The sex attacker is serving two life sentences after murdering 83 women
The Kremlin scheme has freed around 40k convicts after offering them pardons

Sex attacker Mikhail Popkov is serving two life sentences for the murder of 83 women but now the serial killer wants to be released to fight for Russian forces in Ukraine

Russia’s bloodiest serial killer is volunteering to fight for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

Sex attacker Mikhail Popkov, 58, wants to join a controversial scheme that has seen thousands of murderers, rapists and other hardened criminals become mercenaries.

The prison recruitment scheme reportedly sees criminals sent out to fight with pro-Russian forces in Putin’s illegal war in exchange for a pardon if they continue to fight and stay alive for six months.

Ex-policeman Popkov — nicknamed ‘The Werewolf’ and the ‘Angarsk Maniac’ — has killed 83 women, and is serving two life sentences plus nine years after three separate trials.

A police source believes his true toll is “closer to 200”.

Mikhail Popkov was convicted of killing 83 women but it’s believed he could have had closer to 200 victims ( Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Popkov raped most of his victims, aged 18 to 50, before killing them with axes, hammers, knives, screwdrivers and spades.

Despite this, the Russian authorities permitted state TV to interview him behind bars as he pleaded to join Putin’s fighters, claiming he had radio-electronics experience from his time as a Red Army conscript.

He hopes to use the sickening Kremlin scheme — which has freed as many as 40,000 convicts — to gain his liberty.

The serial killer told Russian state media that he wanted to join the army ( Image: Vesti Rossiya/e2w)

Popkov is even suddenly confessing to more murders as he seeks to win a place in the Wagner private army, headed by Putin crony Yevgeny Prigozhin, which is backing the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

When asked by Russian state TV “what is your dream?”, he replied: “To join the army.”

The mass killer continued: “I would not hesitate to do so [join the war].

RELATED: Putin’s Payments To Russian Soldiers Lead To Poverty Reduction In Russia: Report

People living below Russia’s official poverty line has decreased by at least 700,000 in the third quarter of 2022
The country’s middle class has shrunk and now comprises below 10% of the population
Putin previously ordered the payment of 5 million rubles to the families of killed soldiers

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s payments to soldiers for their participation in the war in Ukraine have helped reduce poverty in the country, according to a report.

Russia’s spending in the war effort in Ukraine led to a record budget deficit in December. However, an investigation launched by Bloomberg Economics found that Moscow’s spending, which included expanded handouts and payments to soldiers fighting in Ukraine and their families, has helped sharply increase the income of the poorest 10% of the country’s population.

The publication also cited statistics from the national statistics agency Rosstat which found that the number of people living below Russia’s official poverty line has decreased by at least 700,000 in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the year before. People living under the official subsistence level are defined as those having an income below $186 per month.

Additionally, the number of people living below the poverty line by the third quarter of last year has gone down by 2.3 million when compared to the second quarter.

Apart from Moscow’s spending on social military benefits, the Kremlin is also expected to spend about 2 trillion rubles ($30 billion) on assistance to families with children and 800 billion rubles ($12 billion) on pensions this year. The amounts are twice the figures spent in the second half of 2022, according to the outlet, citing Russia’s finance minister Anton Siluanov.

Despite the poverty reduction, economist Yevgeny Gontmaker told the publication that people in Russia, in general, are getting poorer. He also noted that the size of the country’s middle class has shrunk due to the war and now comprises below 10% of the population.

“The people as a whole are getting poorer, but the poor are becoming fewer in number,” he said.

The report comes after Putin ordered the payment of 5 million rubles ($73,000) to the families of soldiers who are killed in combat in Ukraine. Veterans who suffered injuries or traumas in the war will also receive 3 million rubles ($44,000).

The order will cover the families of soldiers who died or were injured since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

In November last year, Putin ordered a one-time payment amounting to 195,000 rubles ($3,200) for contract soldiers and people who have been mobilized to fight in Ukraine. Putin claimed the payment was designed to “provide additional measures of social support.”