The vast majority ended up fighting for Wagner group, the private army run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who in June went rogue and launched an armed mutiny that sent shock waves through the Russian political system before it was aborted.

As part of the deal, convicts were told that if they fought for six months and survived, they would be allowed to go back to normal life without serving the rest of their sentences.

It is not clear whether Kanyus is still fighting, but it certainly appears he is still alive, as he has posted regular updates to an account on VKontakte, a Russian social media network.

Samoilov’s mother told 29.ru, a local news site in Russia’s Arkhangelsk region, that her son had fought and been injured in Ukraine, and had now been pardoned.

“He was sent there, served for six months and in accordance with the law has now been released early,” the head of the North Ossetia region, Sergei Menyailo, confirmed in a press conference earlier this year, adding that in Tekhov’s place, he would not have returned home.

The family’s refusal to stay quiet meant the case resonated with the public, and the police who failed to show up to the repeated calls for help from the neighbours were even tried for negligence.

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