Russians are being warned to lock up their kids at night as Vladimir Putin's brutal private army of murderers, rapists and paedophiles return home from the war in Ukraine.
Parents are receiving mysterious phone calls from people claiming to be police officers, telling them to be on guard as the dangerous convicts, who were freed to join the war effort as part of the Wagner Group paramilitary organisation, are back on the streets leading normal civilian lives.
The criminals, who include some that were locked up for paedophilia-related charges, were released from prison in return for a place on the frontline during Putin's invasion.
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Then, as part of the deal struck, if they survived six months of fighting, they would be pardoned and freed from their sentences.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who heads up the mercenary group, has already confirmed that the first batch of those prisoners have now been released.
That has led to the phone calls that some parents claim have been made by a mysterious figure who introduces himself as "Major Solovyov".
Alexei Shichkov told the Agentstvo news outlet: "He asked me, 'Do you have kids?' I responded that we are not located in Russia.
"He continued, 'In connection with the [war], inmates who fought for Wagner have received pardons and will now be free'. [He] said it’s dangerous to let children out after 7pm and said goodbye."
Another Moscow resident received a similar call and was warned "about the return to Moscow of Wagner fighters".
Police are still trying to determine the identity of the phone callers.
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Prigozhin has argued that the Wagner Group was devised as a way for convicts to redeem themselves.
He has even asked for a new law to be introduced that would mean a five-year prison sentence for anyone publishing "negative information" about the Russian war volunteers.
The man dubbed "Putin's chef" has also been captured delivering a pep talk to the first group of released prisoners.
In it, he said: "Don’t drink a lot, don’t use drugs, don’t rape women, do not get up to no good."
One of the most notorious Wagner Group mercenaries known to have been released is Alexander Tyutin, 66, who was jailed for 23 years after he hired a contract killer to mercilessly execute his business partner, his wife and their two children.
Tyutin went on to reportedly urinate on their graves after the funeral but, having fulfilled his duties in Ukraine, it is understood that he has now travelled to Turkey to be reunited with his wife, amid rumours that he was recommended for a medal in recognition of the "courage" he showed on the frontline.
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