Law enforcement authorities in the southern Volgograd region have launched a manhunt for a former prison inmate who joined the military and is now suspected of shooting two people, the local media reported Monday.
Police are said to have circulated a mugshot and description of 34-year-old Maxim Valkovich, who is accused of shooting and wounding two people in the town of Petrov Val on Sunday.
Law enforcement authorities have not publicly commented on either the shooting or the reported manhunt. Spokespeople from the Interior Ministry and Investigative Committee told local news outlet V1.ru that the reported manhunt was not under their jurisdiction, while military investigators declined to comment.
The outlet shared eyewitness photographs of military police roaming the streets of Petrov Val. It also said it spoke with local residents who had witnessed “many” police cars arriving in the town.
A former classmate of Valkovich told V1.ru that the shooting was sparked by a dispute over alleged infidelity.
“He has a wife and child here. She started cheating on him with some guy, and he [Valkovich] called him for a meeting,” the classmate was quoted as saying. “He didn’t arrive, his friends were there, [Valkovich] shot them and went on the run.”
The Moscow Times could not verify those claims.
An unverified video published by the Telegram news channel Baza, which has ties to law enforcement authorities, showed the shooting’s reported victims — two young and bloodied men who identified themselves by the first names Artyom and Shamil — lying on an open field.
Valkovich had served more than nine years in prison on charges of manslaughter, extortion and robbery. He was released in 2020, according to local media, and then reportedly spent two years under administrative supervision.
Valkovich signed a military contract as a volunteer soldier in 2023, the Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported, citing his family. It confirmed that Valkovich has a wife and a small child but did not address the claims of infidelity.
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