Two convicted murderers who ate the flesh of their victims have reportedly been pardoned by Russian authorities and released, according to multiple Russian media outlets. Politico reports in an article.

The Kremlin is known to use convicted criminals of all kinds as soldiers and pardon those fighting in the war against Ukraine as “Special Military Operation Heroes.”

In particular, Russian radio reported that Denis Gorin, a cannibal from Sakhalin who killed four people and was sentenced to 22 years in prison, is now free and is being treated in a hospital in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Gorin, who has posted photos online wearing a military uniform bearing the letter “Z”, a symbol of Russian aggression against Ukraine, was convicted of murder and mutilation of a corpse in 2003 and released in 2010 on parole. He later killed at least three more people and was arrested again in 2012 and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Prosecutors said he ate the flesh of one of his victims.

Another criminal, Nikolai Ogolobyak, a former member of a satanic group, killed two young women and then, with friends, cooked and ate some of their organs in 2008. He was sent to fight for Russia and returned from the war in Ukraine in November 2.

Ogolobyak was supposed to be in prison until 2030, but was pardoned for fighting in Ukraine. His father told Russian website 76.Ru that his son now lives with his mother in Yaroslavl.

Like many other Russian convicted criminals, Ogolobyak served in Storm Z, a Russian battalion made up of criminals.

“I love the news when serial killers, maniacs and now also cannibals rush home from war. I hope they will eat some more from their compatriots,” Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the Ukrainian army, said in a Telegram post.