Russian 'Walter White' Among Ex-Cons Released After Return From Ukraine

A man dubbed the Russian "Walter White" is reportedly among the group of ex-convicts who were released after serving six months in Ukraine with the Wagner Group.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the founder of the mercenary Wagner Group, announced on Thursday that the first batch of prisoners who participated in the war in Ukraine completed their six-month contracts and have received a pardon.

According to independent Russian news outlet Agentstvo, one of the freed convicts is a veterinarian from St. Petersburg named Dmitry Karavaichik, who was handed a 17-year jail sentence in 2019 for producing and distributing amphetamine.

He was dubbed the "Russian Walter White" by local media at the time, a reference to the main protagonist from the hit show Breaking Bad.

Karavaichik claimed at the time that he tricked drug dealers by selling them a mixture of crushed-up pills made to look like amphetamines to raise money to manufacture prosthetic limbs for cats and dogs.

He also said that more than a kilogram of amphetamine found during a search was planted on him by operatives.

"The manufacture of amphetamine has never been a selling point," he was quoted by Russian media outlet MediaZona as saying. "I have a theme of deceiving those involved in the drug trade."

Karavaichik said he discovered a way to imitate the look and smell of amphetamine, and replicate the feeling it gives users.

"All these pills completely replace that feeling of euphoria, that feeling of speed that amphetamine gives," Karavaichik said. "I could spend this money not only on myself but also for my developments and for everything else."

Agentstvo said it identified Karavaichik from a photo published by the Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

The Wagner Group is heavily involved in the fighting in Ukraine and assisted the Russian military in the annexation of Crimea in 2014. It has been recruiting large numbers of male prisoners for Putin's war in Ukraine and hiring in penal colonies in Russia, offering commuted sentences and cash incentives in return for six months of military service.

Prigozhin told reporters Thursday that two dozen prisoners were among the first group to be pardoned.

"They [completed] their contract. They worked with honor, with dignity," he said.

According to Agentstvo, also among the group of ex-prisoners is a man named Stanislav Usachev, who was handed a 13-month jail sentence for car theft no later than 2016; a man named Alexander Suetov, who was sentenced to a decade behind bars in 2020 for his involvement in organizing a crime ring responsible for robbing a jewelry store in St. Petersburg; and a man named Denis Kinev, who sentenced to five years for robbery in 2011.

Separately, independent news outlet Moscow Telegraph said a man named Dmitry Karyagin who was sentenced to 14.5 years in prison in 2016 for killing his grandmother was also pardoned and released from the front lines in Ukraine by the Wagner Group.

On Thursday, Russian readers expressed anxiety and anger in the comment section of a news article, published by the state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

"Should we rejoice? Strange, on the contrary, I have anxiety, but what crimes did they commit, for which they were imprisoned? I hope there are no bandits, rapists and murderers among them," a commenter posting under the name Almira N wrote.

Another commenter, Ivan Ivanov, questioned how many of those pardoned "will return to their former lives with theft, robbery."

"Criminals with combat experience will return to society, hmm, encouraging," a person named Sainex commented.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment.

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