Hello!

I'm Maxim Polyakov, a correspondent for the online magazine '7x7'.

Russians who participated in the war in Ukraine have become central figures in propaganda. They appear on talk shows, are hailed as heroes in the media, and are appointed as deputies or schoolteachers. However, some servicemen, upon returning home, turn into troublesome neighbors who provoke fights, commit murders, and engage in other crimes. In the two and a half years since the war began, nearly 500 civilians — primarily relatives and acquaintances of the so-called “Special Military Operation (SMO) veterans” — have been affected by their actions, with 242 people losing their lives. Neighbors of these servicemen live in constant tension, and some even choose to move away.

In this letter, I’ll use the example of Novosibirsk, a major city in Siberia, to illustrate what it’s like to live next to a war veteran and explore whether it’s possible to find protection.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

The End of a Peaceful Life

Fifty white-and-blue panel buildings on the outskirts of Novosibirsk make up the Chistaya Sloboda district. Its construction began in 2007 and continues to this day. The district has been steadily expanding toward the city’s borders, with former wastelands and fields now housing a school, a stadium, kindergartens, public gardens, shops, and public transport stops.

In September 2024, residents of a building on Titov Street in Chistaya Sloboda learned through a neighborhood chat that an unknown man had covered a CCTV camera in the elevator and spent several hours riding it. Upon reviewing additional surveillance footage, the tenants’ representative discovered that the man had been masturbating in the elevator, frightening several children.

Discussions in the chat quickly turned to potential ways of addressing the situation, with some residents even suggesting taking the troublemaker to the forest for a “man-to-man talk.” However, this idea was abandoned when it was revealed that the individual in question was their neighbor from Chistaya Sloboda who had recently returned from the war in Ukraine with two concussions and a head injury. No one but the tenants’ representative dared to confront him.

In September, one resident disturbed by the incident initially agreed to comment but later changed her mind. The tenants’ representative urged everyone to avoid discussing the matter and instead made the veteran clean the elevator as punishment. Speaking to 7x7, she denied that the September incident had occurred, emphasizing that the building’s residents are generally calm and avoid conflicts.

“I’ve heard about it, but I don’t know the details, as each building entrance here has its own residents' chat,” said Anait, a woman seen leaving the place where the serviceman had been spotted.

Anait, who was visiting her brother, has been living in a nearby building in Chistaya Sloboda since 2015. She wasn’t surprised to learn that the man involved in the elevator incident was a serviceman, noting that many men in the district wear military uniforms and assuming that some of them are war veterans.

"I wasn’t afraid to let my child go out alone before our conversation," the woman said. "We have cameras everywhere here — on every building and in each entrance — so you can track your child’s path home from school. Nothing like this has ever happened here before; maybe it was just a one-off thing..."

Tatiana Vasilyevna, a pensioner living in the same building as the serviceman, also hopes it was an isolated incident. She explained that she had been out of touch with the neighbors’ chat for months while caring for her terminally ill husband. Nine days after his death, she visited a church to light a candle.

When asked by 7x7 how she felt about living next to someone who had recently returned from the war, the pensioner replied, “I guess I just won’t use the elevator, that’s it. Everything is pretty calm in our building, no issues at all. But, perhaps, things like [the elevator incident] might still happen — after all, we have all sorts of people here.

"If You File a Complaint, You’ll Be Signing Your Husband’s Death Warrant"

Olga has been living next to a war veteran for nearly a year. She is cautious about revealing her identity or the name of the Novosibirsk suburb where she resides due to her neighbor’s explosive temper. He has already had a confrontation with Olga and her husband, and she fears he might seek revenge if he sees the 7x7 article.

According to Olga, in January 2024, 28-year-old Andrey (name changed at her request) moved into the panel building, which is primarily occupied by pensioners and single mothers, with his wife and child. Almost immediately, he began throwing loud parties attended by men in military uniforms. Olga and other neighbors reportedly saw them on the landing near the elevator. When Olga began finding syringes between the floors, she suspected her upstairs neighbor of drug use.

One spring day, Olga was coming home when she saw Andrey and his friend smoking near the entrance. She greeted them as usual and took the elevator. As soon as she stepped into her apartment and shut the door, she heard loud crashing noises. Andrey and his friend rushed up to her floor, banged on her door, and started tearing down the CCTV cameras installed in the stairwell.

To this day, Olga does not know what triggered Andrey’s rage. The men then went one floor down and started banging on the door of another apartment, home to a single mother, who heard that Andrey and his friend were looking for someone they knew. The incident lasted about an hour and a half. Scared, Olga called the police and her husband, who arrived before the officers did.

“We hadn’t had any conflicts with Andrey, but I always kept my distance because of the parties and the syringes. There was plenty of evidence of him and his friends using drugs — bleary eyes, incoherent speech, inability to focus, yet no smell of alcohol or typical signs of drunkenness,” Olga explained. “When my husband came home, he asked them, seemingly lacking all instinct for self-preservation, ‘What’s going on, guys? Why are you doing this?’" They then tried to drag my husband away ‘just to talk,’ speaking in a thug-like manner — ‘What’s your problem? Who the hell do you think you are?’ When I said the police were coming, they started threatening me. Andrey said, ‘If you file a complaint, you’ll be signing your husband’s death warrant.’”

Olga pulled her husband back into their apartment. Andrey and his friend took the elevator down, while the police officers climbed the stairs.

The family expected the police to help, but the officers were hesitant to accept their complaint, accusing Olga of alerting Andrey about their impending visit. They claimed that if she had stayed silent, they could have detained the men on the spot. The police did not attempt to search for Andrey or his friend in the neighborhood.

According to media reports and information from the court’s website (the actual verdict is not publicly available), in 2018, Andrey was sentenced to a term in a high-security penal colony for killing a random passerby and was not set to be released until 2027 (we do not specify the article under which he was convicted to avoid risking the anonymity of our source — ed.). Andrey denied his guilt and tried to appeal the verdict. Olga believes he may have left the colony to join the Wagner PMC, as she noticed their patches on his clothing.

Olga and her husband stayed with friends for a few weeks. When they got back, they found that Andrey had left again to fight in the war.

“That’s the Kind of Man Who Is Allowed Everything”

In the autumn, Andrey returned to Novosibirsk with a bandaged arm and on crutches. Olga believes he sustained a severe injury, possibly an amputation, and will not be going back to fight in Ukraine.

The woman and her husband avoid their neighbor.

“When he’s alone, he doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary. I can’t say that he greets us or speaks to us. But if I see him with others, I make sure to stay home. They’re likely using [some drugs], and it makes them feel so bold and strong. We’ve restored the CCTV in the entrance, and now there are cameras facing the courtyard as well. If I see them gathering in the entrance or outside, I either drive away and wait for it to end or stay in my apartment. Once, I needed to go shopping, but they were partying right by my door. I had to put off the shopping until the next day,” Olga recounts.

According to Vlada Ignatova, a psychologist at the organization Nasiliyu.Net (“No To Violence”), Andrey may have developed a sense of entitlement due to his status as a war veteran and the fact that he was released from prison early. Ignatova believes he may see this as a form of power and an unchallengeable right to act however he pleases toward those around him.

“[For Olga, the situation with her neighbor] complicates her daily life. She can’t leave her home whenever she wants, go shopping, meet friends, or invite anyone over. Figuratively speaking, it’s like living the life of someone who’s being stalked, always needing to monitor their surroundings to avoid running into their pursuer.There’s no sense of safety, which leads to chronic anxiety and can contribute to depression or even PTSD. So, what can people [like Olga] do? As terrible as it sounds, the only options are to call the police and move out because this is not something that can be resolved with words,” Ignatova says.

Olga has lost hope in the police. A few months ago, she called a district deputy, who promised to “influence” law enforcement, but there has been no update since. Olga now attends therapy to manage her anxiety and constant fear.

© Copyright, online journal "7х7"