Vladimir Putin has completed a remarkable career arc. He began the era of Putinism in the year 2000 by ending the war between organized crime groups and bringing stability to Russia. Over the past year, he has sent the country plummeting backwards into an orgy of violence.

The number of murders and assassination attempts is growing in Russia for the first time in 20 years.

Putin has thrown open the doors to Russia’s prisons, promising freedom and money to the worst killers and sadists if they go to Ukraine’s front lines for a few months before returning home to terrorize their communities.

The number of armed crimes increased by 29.7 percent over the last 10 months, according to the Russian Ministry of Interior Affairs, and civil society leaders are predicting the wave of violence will only get bigger. The “echo of war,” as Russians describe crimes committed by soldiers coming back from Ukraine, can be heard all over the country.

One of them, Yury Gavrilov, returned home from Ukraine to his hometown of Sol-Iletsk and raped an 11-year-old schoolgirl. Others have committed murder, robbery and arson. Word has been getting out despite the Kremlin asking its propagandists not to cover news about the crimes committed by returning soldiers in October.

Putin was asked at his annual televised Q&A last month what books he was currently reading. Russian state agency TASS reported that Putin “said with irony,” “I will reread the Criminal Code.” To the independent media it was a clear signal.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with service members, involved in the country's military campaign in Ukraine, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow.

Timur Olevsky,........

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