The Russian historian who confessed to killing and dismembering his student and girlfriend has been transferred to a psychiatric ward in a Moscow detention facility.
Aleksandr Pochuyev, the lawyer for Oleg Sokolov, said on December 2 that his client was transferred to the ward in the Russian capital for a psychiatric evaluation.
Interfax quoted an official from the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission as saying Sokolov was reading and did not complain in a conversation they had, though he did say he wanted to return to St. Petersburg, where he was transferred from.
The 63-year-old historian, who was once awarded France’s Legion of Honor for his research into military leader Napoleon Bonaparte, was detained in St. Petersburg on November 9 after being pulled out of the Moika River with a backpack containing the severed body parts of a young woman.
Investigators later found the woman's head in his apartment.
On November 11, Sokolov admitted in court that he killed and dismembered his former student and lover who was a 24-year-old postgraduate student.
The court has ordered that Sokolov be held in pretrial detention for two months while the investigation is carried out.
Editors' Picks
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
Listen
Top Trending Russia
1
