Last Updated on February 7, 2020
A Russian man faces 15 years behind bars for accidentally beating a pedophile to death when saving two boys from his apartment.
Vladimir Sankin, 33, beat convicted pedophile Vladimir Zaitsev, 54, to death during the rescue of two naked teenage boys from his apartment.
Following the Sankin’s heroic actions, he has received much public support and pressure to have the charges against him dropped.
Sankin, a mechanic from Ufa city, was alerted to the situation by a desperate teenage boy informing him that his friend was trapped inside Zaitsev’s home.
When Sankin arrived at Zaitsev’s apartment, he heard his 14-year-old victim crying and screaming. Sankin forced his way into the apartment where he saw the convicted pedophile about to have his way with the disconsolate boy.
The boy had been told to strip naked by Zaitsev, who threatened to brutally kill him with an ax if he failed to comply.
Sankin freed the bound naked teen. Then, he led Zaitsev outside where he beat him with a stick as they waited for the police.
As a result of his injuries, Zaitsev, who was recently released from prison for sexually abusing children, later died.
After the ordeal, Sankin was arrested on suspicion of “intentional infliction of grave bodily harm resulting in the death of the victim by negligence,” according to The Sun.
Zaitsev had lured the two boys into his apartment with promises to “dry their wet clothes” as they had been playing in the snow.
He then started acting inappropriately toward the boys, “harassing” them until one boy escape and sounded the alarm.
Sankin believes he acted justly, using reasonable force to neutralize the pedophile, saying that he “didn’t expect him to die at all” and that he “saved two children… from him.”
Since the incident and Sankin’s arrest, tens of thousands of Russians have signed a petition calling for his freedom, comparing him to a “hero.”
Despite several people lavishing Sankin with praise for his actions, some believe he should be prosecuted for vigilantism.
