At the weekend in St. Petersburg, it became known about one of the most brutal murders in recent years: Oleg Sokolov, candidate of historical sciences, associate professor of St. Petersburg State University (SPbU), was brought out of the Moika River, in which there was a backpack with severed female hands, and in his flat - a decapitated body. Later, he confessed to the murder of his cohabitant - graduate student of St. Petersburg State University Anastasia Yeshchenko. A preventive measure to the docent will be chosen on Monday.
Early on Saturday morning, the 63-year-old Oleg Sokolov was taken out of the Moika River and taken to the Mariinsky Hospital with hypothermia. Rescuers were called by a passing taxi driver who heard screams for help. Together with the historian, a backpack was removed from the river, in which lay two female hands and a pistol. Later, in a suspect’s apartment on the Moika embankment, a five-minute walk from the assistant professor’s place of salvation, law enforcement officers found a female body with cut off limbs and a saw. 24-year-old Anastasia Yeshenko, a former student of the Institute of History of St. Petersburg State University and a cohabitant of the scientist, was killed. Together they wrote works on Napoleon and Spanish history. Already in the evening, Oleg Sokolov issued a confession, in which he stated that on November 7 he quarreled with Anastasia Yeshchenko and shot her. Afterwards, he decided to dismember the body in order to drown it in parts in the Sink. Late Saturday night, the lower limbs of the slain were found in the river. During the search, the divers also lifted the almost decomposed remains of another person from the bottom.
The historian’s lawyer Alexander Pochuev, president of the Moscow International Bar Association Pochuev, Zelgin and Partners, explained to Kommersant that Oleg Sokolov’s condition is now satisfactory. “Speaking of morality, he is extremely depressed, is in a state of remorse and shock from what happened,” he explained. The lawyer added that the mental state of the client will be determined by the appropriate examination, which is likely to be appointed after the adoption of a preventive measure. The investigation plans to appeal to the court for arrest on Monday. As of Sunday evening, Oleg Sokolov was questioned by the Investigative Committee of Russia, after which he was taken to a temporary detention center on Zakharyevskaya Street. He has not yet been charged.
Oleg Sokolov taught at St. Petersburg State University at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History since 2000. Several times he was invited to lecture at the Sorbonne University in Paris, and in 2003 he was awarded the French Order of the Legion of Honor (the decree was signed by then-President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac). Oleg Sokolov repeatedly spoke at historical events as a member of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), chaired by the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky. So, in June 2014, Oleg Sokolov participated in the opening of the RVIO representative office in the NWFD along with Mr. Medinsky in the status of deputy head of the North-West Directorate for Military-Historical Reconstruction. However, a few hours after the occurrence of reports of the incident, information about Oleg Sokolov was removed from the RVIO website, and the head of the organization’s information policy department, Nadezhda Usmanova, said that they and the historian “collaborated solely by virtue of professional knowledge.” In 2008, Oleg Sokolov interrupted his work at St. Petersburg State University, lived in Moscow for some time and advised on the antiques of businessman Viktor Baturin, a relative of the former mayor of the capital, Yuri Luzhkov.
Early on Saturday morning, the 63-year-old Oleg Sokolov was taken out of the Moika River and taken to the Mariinsky Hospital with hypothermia. Rescuers were called by a passing taxi driver who heard screams for help. Together with the historian, a backpack was removed from the river, in which lay two female hands and a pistol. Later, in a suspect’s apartment on the Moika embankment, a five-minute walk from the assistant professor’s place of salvation, law enforcement officers found a female body with cut off limbs and a saw. 24-year-old Anastasia Yeshenko, a former student of the Institute of History of St. Petersburg State University and a cohabitant of the scientist, was killed. Together they wrote works on Napoleon and Spanish history. Already in the evening, Oleg Sokolov issued a confession, in which he stated that on November 7 he quarreled with Anastasia Yeshchenko and shot her. Afterwards, he decided to dismember the body in order to drown it in parts in the Sink. Late Saturday night, the lower limbs of the slain were found in the river. During the search, the divers also lifted the almost decomposed remains of another person from the bottom.
The historian’s lawyer Alexander Pochuev, president of the Moscow International Bar Association Pochuev, Zelgin and Partners, explained to Kommersant that Oleg Sokolov’s condition is now satisfactory. “Speaking of morality, he is extremely depressed, is in a state of remorse and shock from what happened,” he explained. The lawyer added that the mental state of the client will be determined by the appropriate examination, which is likely to be appointed after the adoption of a preventive measure. The investigation plans to appeal to the court for arrest on Monday. As of Sunday evening, Oleg Sokolov was questioned by the Investigative Committee of Russia, after which he was taken to a temporary detention center on Zakharyevskaya Street. He has not yet been charged.
Oleg Sokolov taught at St. Petersburg State University at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History since 2000. Several times he was invited to lecture at the Sorbonne University in Paris, and in 2003 he was awarded the French Order of the Legion of Honor (the decree was signed by then-President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac). Oleg Sokolov repeatedly spoke at historical events as a member of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), chaired by the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky. So, in June 2014, Oleg Sokolov participated in the opening of the RVIO representative office in the NWFD along with Mr. Medinsky in the status of deputy head of the North-West Directorate for Military-Historical Reconstruction. However, a few hours after the occurrence of reports of the incident, information about Oleg Sokolov was removed from the RVIO website, and the head of the organization’s information policy department, Nadezhda Usmanova, said that they and the historian “collaborated solely by virtue of professional knowledge.” In 2008, Oleg Sokolov interrupted his work at St. Petersburg State University, lived in Moscow for some time and advised on the antiques of businessman Viktor Baturin, a relative of the former mayor of the capital, Yuri Luzhkov.
Oleg Sokolov's scientific interests are the military history of Russia and France at the turn of the 18th – 19th centuries, in particular, the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte. The associate professor many times participated in the reconstruction of the battles of the Patriotic War of 1812, as well as a number of foreign battles of the Napoleonic era, including the battle of Austerlitz and Waterloo. Moreover, he was the organizer of the first in the USSR military-historical reconstruction group, which became the basis of this movement in Russia.
According to 47news, after the murder, Oleg Sokolov planned to commit suicide in Napoleon’s uniform in the Peter and Paul Fortress. “We consider the instant publication of such information known only to operational staff as an unethical act. This violates the presumption of innocence and the secrecy of the investigation. Such details can be discussed only in the primitive communal system, when there was no trial or investigation, ”lawyer Alexander Pochuev told Kommersant when answering the question about the availability of such evidence in the case file.
Students in different ways characterize Oleg Sokolov. Some note that he was an interesting storyteller and a man truly passionate about his work. According to Vasily Kunin, a graduate of the history faculty, the associate professor often raised his voice and sharply perceived criticism. In addition, the historian has repeatedly found himself at the center of scandals. For example, during a public lecture in March last year, a student asked Oleg Sokolov a question about the conflict with historian Yevgeny Ponasenkov, who accused the St. Petersburg State University associate professor of plagiarism. “Oleg Valerievich’s reaction was the demand to immediately“ get out of here, ”after which several people, including at least one student of the Institute of History, actually kicked the young man out of the audience with physical force,” wrote Vasily Kunin in an open appeal to the director of the Institute of History Abdullah Daudov asking for a public assessment of the situation. A month later, the ethics committee of St. Petersburg State University, consisting of five people — doctors and candidates of sciences — was examining what had happened. “In the process of preparing for the meeting ... the members of the commission had a firm idea that this was a pre-prepared action, aimed not at scientific discussion and comprehension of the truth, but at discrediting Associate Professor O.V. Sokolova, ”the decision says. Despite this, the commission recognized that the historian violated ethical standards, thereby damaging the image of the Institute of History of St. Petersburg State University.
At St. Petersburg State University, Kommersant said they were shocked by the news of the murder. The school brought condolences to relatives, having refused other comments before the rector meeting on Monday. In the spring of 2018, MK in St. Petersburg spoke about the statement of one of the students of St. Petersburg State University to law enforcement agencies with a request to conduct an audit against Oleg Sokolov. It is dated November 2008. According to the student, she cohabited with an assistant professor for some time, and when she was about to leave him, he tied her to a chair, beat her, and then threatened to torture her with a hot iron.
According to 47news, after the murder, Oleg Sokolov planned to commit suicide in Napoleon’s uniform in the Peter and Paul Fortress. “We consider the instant publication of such information known only to operational staff as an unethical act. This violates the presumption of innocence and the secrecy of the investigation. Such details can be discussed only in the primitive communal system, when there was no trial or investigation, ”lawyer Alexander Pochuev told Kommersant when answering the question about the availability of such evidence in the case file.
Students in different ways characterize Oleg Sokolov. Some note that he was an interesting storyteller and a man truly passionate about his work. According to Vasily Kunin, a graduate of the history faculty, the associate professor often raised his voice and sharply perceived criticism. In addition, the historian has repeatedly found himself at the center of scandals. For example, during a public lecture in March last year, a student asked Oleg Sokolov a question about the conflict with historian Yevgeny Ponasenkov, who accused the St. Petersburg State University associate professor of plagiarism. “Oleg Valerievich’s reaction was the demand to immediately“ get out of here, ”after which several people, including at least one student of the Institute of History, actually kicked the young man out of the audience with physical force,” wrote Vasily Kunin in an open appeal to the director of the Institute of History Abdullah Daudov asking for a public assessment of the situation. A month later, the ethics committee of St. Petersburg State University, consisting of five people — doctors and candidates of sciences — was examining what had happened. “In the process of preparing for the meeting ... the members of the commission had a firm idea that this was a pre-prepared action, aimed not at scientific discussion and comprehension of the truth, but at discrediting Associate Professor O.V. Sokolova, ”the decision says. Despite this, the commission recognized that the historian violated ethical standards, thereby damaging the image of the Institute of History of St. Petersburg State University.
At St. Petersburg State University, Kommersant said they were shocked by the news of the murder. The school brought condolences to relatives, having refused other comments before the rector meeting on Monday. In the spring of 2018, MK in St. Petersburg spoke about the statement of one of the students of St. Petersburg State University to law enforcement agencies with a request to conduct an audit against Oleg Sokolov. It is dated November 2008. According to the student, she cohabited with an assistant professor for some time, and when she was about to leave him, he tied her to a chair, beat her, and then threatened to torture her with a hot iron.
