The story in the Arkhangelsk region, which our colleagues from 29.RU told about, became another terrible illustration of domestic violence, which is much talked about in Russia after each such nightmare incident, but there are still no legislative levers of influence on domestic tyrants.
On March 20, 33-year-old Olga Shlyamina, a young schoolboy mother, a finalist of the All-Russian beauty contest, disappeared in Novodvinsk. Five days later, she was found decapitated in the forest. Her 40-year-old boyfriend, Vyacheslav Samoilov, partially confessed to the murder. He confirmed to investigators that he was drunk and hit the girl twice on the head, after which she fell.
Olga’s relatives and friends say that Olga suffered beatings and aggression from her boyfriend for a long time. And she was silent.
«She hid the bruises on her arms»
On March 29 — the ninth day after Olga Shlyamina’s death — Lyudmila, her mother, went to church.
This is the only way to somehow mentally say goodbye to the daughter, who is still not buried. First, a body was found in the vicinity of Novodvinsk, and only a few days later — a head. Now there are forensic and genetic examinations, and it is difficult to say when they will be completed. The situation seemed to be hanging in the air, and for the mother it was the most terrible test, starting from the day when Olya disappeared.
— On March 20, she left home in the evening, the next day she had a day off. I called during the day — the phone was off. I called in the evening — the phone was turned off. She was supposed to be at work on Monday. I expected to come at least before work — to change. The phone was still disconnected. I thought, maybe somewhere I spent the night at a party and went to work from the guests. I waited for the evening … The phone was disconnected all day, and I was already worried. On Tuesday morning, I found the address where she got a job. I could not get through on any phone, took a taxi and went there myself. The security service is there. They’ve been looking for her since Monday. Then I went to the police to file a statement.
On March 25, it became known that Olga was found dead in the forest, the mother was told that the body was decapitated, and the head could not yet be found. On the same day it became known that the suspect, Vyacheslav Samoilov, with whom Olga had met, had been detained. Even then, he admitted his guilt, but «partially» — which we will understand further.
— What really happened that day? Only Olya knew this, — says the girl’s mother, exhausted by the terrible grief that fell on her, and also by complete uncertainty with the consequence, the inability to bury the remains of the unfortunate daughter.
Lyudmila can only assume that Olga and Vyacheslav had a falling out, because her daughter finally made a decision — she needs to part. The daughter did not tell and even hid some details of her personal life from her.
“I was against their relationship,” mom admits. — This New Year, he hit her hard. And then I said: «Finally, you realize that you can’t have anything to do with this person!» He came into our house, but we practically did not communicate. Seemed to me as a person without emotion. I am by nature silent, and with him in general, somehow there was no common language.
Friends say that often Olga came to work depressed and only shared with the closest that she was very tired of quarrels with Vyacheslav.
— Once she came to work in a bad mood. I asked what happened. Olya said that her boyfriend hesitated: she was constantly yelling at the child, he let his hands go at her — she had bruises on her hands, she hid them. More than once she came in this state, ”says Natalya Slednikova, a resident of Arkhangelsk, who worked with her at Pyaterochka, where Olga was an administrator.
Olga Shlyamina raised her son from her second marriage. When we talked with her mother, she expressed fears that the boy could also be a victim of beatings or simply suffer psychologically. Olga’s social networks have a lot of photos with her beloved son: walks, travel, children’s crafts.
«Queen of the forest»
Olga’s mother says that her daughter recently said that she liked a colleague at work and that she accepted his advances:
— At that moment, she just listened to me (that it is necessary to part with an aggressive man. — Approx. Ed.). She has a new job. There a man appeared who fell in love with her. And that one (talking about Samoilov. — Ed.) Was keeping watch … And I was very afraid that he would do something.
Vyacheslav, according to her, was making serious plans for Olga — he bought an apartment, wanted them to live together … but Olga did not go. According to his mother, he simply did not want to miss the girl — ambitious, young, beautiful.
In 2018, the novodvinka reached the final of the All-Russian beauty contest «Queen of the Forest», for which it was also a professional test.
Olga then worked as an engineer of the motor transport production of JSC «ARKHBUM». At the competition, the presenter presented her as follows:
— She claims that there are three things in life that cannot be returned — time, word and opportunity. Don’t waste time, choose your words, don’t miss your opportunities.
Olga in general, as her friends say about her, was a rather positive person. She was not as active on Instagram as the other members, and in general seemed more modest than the other members, but for her it was definitely a busy period, which she recalled on the Web several years later. In this photo Olga is the fifth from the left.
And here Olga is in the center — in a blue dress.
A colleague who worked with her from 2019 to 2020 described her as someone with a heightened sense of justice:
— She was very kind, good. She protected me from everyone, did not say anything bad to anyone and did no evil. I’m sorry for her.
A relative, Maria Antufieva, says that she most often communicated with Olga on the Web:
— We haven’t seen each other for a long time in person, communicated only on the Internet and the phone. The last conversation was on March 17th. For me, she was a sunny person.
He threatened to kill his father: what is known about Samoilov
With Vyacheslav Samoilov, as Olga’s mother says, the girl met about 7 years ago. Then they did not communicate for a long time, and when they got back together, it really bothered her.
— Olga did not communicate with him for three years. Why she contacted him again now, I do not know. When they told me that somewhere they saw Olga with Slava, I replied that this could not be! You probably made a mistake. And then she began to somehow guess that after all, she was probably dating him. She didn’t tell me, she hid it. Maybe she didn’t want me to know about it, — said Lyudmila, the girl’s mother.
As we wrote above, it was not easy for the mother to communicate with him, and she had suspicions that he might be dangerous long before the tragedy.
Vyacheslav himself, as we found out, is from Novodvinsk, but he regularly went to work in Usinsk — he worked there at a private security company. It is known that before this terrible situation he had already crossed the line of the law. In 2003 — the case under the article «Hooliganism», which was eventually terminated. In 2016 — a criminal case due to the beatings he inflicted on his father and threats to kill him. In the same year, the case was dropped due to the reconciliation of the parties.
Based on the case materials: «He repents of what he has done.»
Information that Olga Shlyamina was found dead appeared on March 25. Even then, Samoilov was a suspect in the murder case. And even then he partially admitted his guilt — he confirmed that he hit Olga, and admitted that he could kill her. On March 26, Samoilov was arrested and detained for two months.
On March 30, Samoilov’s testimony expanded, but he still admits guilt only partially. Investigators found out that the Novodvinets hit Olga twice on the head — from this she fell and hit her head on the floor.
Curiously, now — after the terrible death of a young and beautiful girl — the thug declares that the quarrel was due to jealousy, but not him, but Olga.
And this contradicts the words of the mother, who said that her daughter listened to her advice to part with Vyacheslav. Here is the regional department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation about the new testimony:
— During interrogation, the accused admitted his guilt in part and explained to the investigator that on March 21, at his place of residence in Novodvinsk, there was a quarrel between him and an acquaintance because of her baseless jealousy. In a fit of anger, being in a state of alcoholic intoxication, he struck two blows with his hand on the head of the victim, which caused her to fall and hit her head on the floor. He did not want her death to come. Finding that the victim did not show signs of life, he took measures to hide the traces of the crime, dismembered the body, the fragments of which he left in different places, and also got rid of the hacksaw for metal. He repents of what he has done.
Investigative actions are being carried out, witnesses in the case are being questioned, expert examinations are underway. Objects of significance to the case were seized from the scene. Olga’s remains were found in a forest and an unfinished building near Novodvinsk.
On March 30, according to information from 29.RU’s own sources, it became known that the girl’s head was also found (which is of particular importance for the investigation, because the cause of death can be established).
Apparently, Samoilov’s line of defense is built in such a way that he does not deny that he killed the girl and tried to hide the traces of the crime (including cutting off his head). But at the same time, as we assume, he insists that he had no intent to kill — hence the wording «partially admitted guilt.»
Vyacheslav Samoilov was charged under the article «Murder» (part 1, article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), that is, under this article — direct intent to kill, that is, intentional infliction of death.
Lyudmila wants to achieve the harshest punishment for the murderer of her daughter.
“I regret that they abolished the death penalty in Russia,” she answered the question of what the sentence should be.
«Do not wash dirty linen in public» and «God endured and ordered us»
We talked about violence in modern society with the head of the non-profit public organization in Arkhangelsk «New Look» Olga Bobretsova.
— Recently, there has been more talk about domestic violence, including the discussion of the bill. And the chairman of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, says that it is necessary to return the discussion of the law. And Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova — that the issue of family and domestic violence needs to be resolved.
— Because this, as a rule, violence is not an isolated incident, but a system of relationships in which intimidation is constantly present, and a woman eventually loses control over her life. Her partner begins to control her: where she goes, what she wears, with whom she communicates, how she behaves. The situation becomes unpredictable for the victim. She cannot predict the actions of her partner. This is actually scary. Sometimes leaving is simply unrealistic. The legislative framework, which operates in the Russian Federation today, lacks protection mechanisms, — says Olga Bobretsova.
The acceptance of such a system of relations on the part of the victim frees the hands of the domestic despot.
— Plus, we must not forget that beatings in the family are decriminalized. If a woman is beaten for the first time, it is not a criminal offense, it is enough to pay a fine and the person is left unpunished.
— At the same time, of course, it is obvious that this is not the norm — you cannot love and hurt. The victim’s resistance can be different, this is active action — the desire to leave. And appeal to crisis centers for help from specialists. Appeals to law enforcement agencies. Not a single person dreams of being bad, and there is no need to be silent about it. There are crisis centers, there is an all-Russian helpline for women who have suffered from domestic violence. A woman should understand that she is not alone and that there is a way out. However, an abrupt separation can be a reason for a new outburst of cruelty, since it is important for the offender to keep the secrecy of his behavior or even crime and go unpunished. Therefore, in no case should one openly declare: «I am leaving you.» You should always draw up a security plan and calculate all the risks.
Olga Bobretsova says that it is important to figure out who you can hide from. It is also recommended to change the SIM card. Don’t reply to unknown numbers. Even the closest ones do not share their whereabouts. Or, on the contrary, warn them that if I do not appear for some time, report to the police. It is better if all the documents, necessary things, money will be collected in the so-called «disturbing suitcase».
— That is, it is important to hide and prepare escape routes, since stalking, that is, the pursuit of the victim, is a fairly common phenomenon. In the criminal system and legislation of the Russian Federation there is no article on persecution, the abuser owns certain legislative norms and know that it is impossible to attract them under this article, since it is absent. Therefore, the aggressors continue to persecute their victims. The well-known case of Victoria Volodina is an illustration of this — when her husband cut the brake hoses in the car, and the woman got into a car accident. The victims also read these stories and are afraid that they may be in the place of such victims.
In any case, even if you are scared or ashamed to tell your loved ones about your fears, you can and even need to call the hotline.
All-Russian round-the-clock helpline for women victims of violence: 8 800 700-06-00.
— Not all domestic sadists kill their victims. Not everyone is chasing. Human nature is sometimes unpredictable. Why is a person going to kill? I’m afraid there is no answer to this question. This may not necessarily be the accumulated cruelty, the person could have been cruel earlier, but now his cruelty has turned into such an action. For 22 years of work in this topic, I have not heard any explanation. We all understand that the deprivation of a person’s life is the highest manifestation of cruelty, and what the abuser thought about when he decided on this is a mystery. Although the crime in this case was solved literally in a few days from the moment the girl disappeared. Even as a specialist, it’s hard and difficult for me to argue what could be in the head of a person who is capable of this.
