23:17, 8 April 2025

In Sochi, victim of violence outraged, as accused man sent to SMO

Ksenia Dushanova. Photo: https://holod.media/2025/03/07/moj-byvshij-vybil-mne-glaz/ included into the register of foreign agents

Ksenia Dushanova lost her eye after being beaten by her former common-law husband and underwent several surgeries. The man was detained on the charge of attempted murder, but investigators let him sign a military contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence and go to the special military operation zone.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that arrestees, with the exception of those involved in cases on treason, terrorism, extremism, and fakes about the Russian Armed Forces, have the opportunity to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and end up in the special military operation (SMO) zone, while the criminal proceedings against the suspects are being terminated. Such a practice results in a “conveyor belt of impunity,” human rights defenders point out.

Ksenia Dushanova, who lost her eye after being beaten by her former common-law husband, has expressed her indignation by the fact that the investigators allowed him to go to the special military operation in Ukraine.

In February 2024, Ksenia Dushanova got acquainted with a blogger in Sochi. The man gave her gifts, promised to marry her in a church, but later began to limit Ksenia’s contacts, check her electronic correspondence, and beat her. The young woman tried to leave her partner, but the man threatened to break her bones and make her disabled. When Ksenia managed to leave her partner and began to hide at friends’ apartments, the man found her. He broke into the house and brutally beat Ksenia, gouged out her eye with a car key, broke her bones, and fractured her skull. At that moment, a little Ksenia’s son stayed behind the wall.

At trial, the man claimed that he had not done anything terrible because he did not kill Ksenia. The defendant was accused of the attempted murder.

In an interview with the “Kholod”** publication, Ksenia Dushanova said that she lived with the man for several months, and after she left him, he began to stalk her. Then she contacted the police.

“Investigators said: ‘Woman, what do you want from us? Deal with your lovers by yourselves!’” Ksenia Dushanova said.

After the attack on her, Ksenia created her own “Women’s Special Forces” project, which helps victims of domestic violence.

Earlier, human rights defenders have explained that the law provides weak protection for women from domestic violence, and the only way to help a victim and save her life is often to immediately leave an aggressor.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 8, 2025 at 05:14 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.