Dmitry Zelensky, a 41-year-old Russian national and Chechen war veteran, was convicted in 2018 for the brutal murder of his girlfriend, Tatiana Melekhina. Zelensky, who shares a surname with the Ukrainian president but is not related, strangled Melekhina to death and then attempted to hide his crime by dismembering her body and processing it through a meat grinder. After confessing to the gruesome act, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
However, Zelensky served less than half of his sentence before being enlisted by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group in November 2022 to fight in the Ukrainian conflict. After six months on the front lines, Zelensky returned to Russia and was subsequently pardoned by the Russian government, a fact confirmed by his mother, Galina Zelenskaya.
Since his release, Zelensky has been residing with his aunt in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. He is reportedly planning to relocate to the town of Anapa on the Black Sea coast to work in the construction industry. His mother believes that his pardon was justified as he has shown remorse for his actions.
The victim’s family, however, was not informed of Zelensky’s release and pardon, causing distress among them. Melekhina, an accountant, was living in the city of Perm when she met Zelensky, a machinist who was nine years her senior. Unbeknownst to her, Zelensky was already married and had a daughter. After her disappearance in 2018, Zelensky initially claimed ignorance about her whereabouts before confessing to the murder.
Zelensky’s mother believes that her son’s decision to fight in Ukraine was an attempt to make amends for his crime and to reduce his prison sentence. His sister, however, has requested that he not return to his hometown. His ex-wife has cut off all ties with him and his family, even going as far as changing her and her daughter’s last names.