The killer of an elderly Nalchik woman avoided prison.

Rustam Nogmov, a former participant in the military conflict in Ukraine, convicted of the murder of pensioner Nina Selezneva in Nalchik, has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and returned to the front.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," Rustam Nogmov fully admitted his guilt in the murder of pensioner Nina Selezneva, the prosecutor stated at the trial in Nalchik. In his final statement, Nogmov asked the court "not to punish him harshly." His lawyer urged that Nogmov's awards not be taken into account in the case of the Nalchik pensioner's murder. In February, the court sentenced Nogmov to 15 years in prison and ordered him to pay three million rubles in compensation for moral damages. The victims' defense team then called the verdict fair.

Rustam Nogmov will not serve time in prison for the murder of Nina Selezneva, as he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and was sent to a "special military operation" zone, lawyer Liza Shak told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

She noted that the relatives of the murdered woman are unhappy with this turn of events, “however, nothing can be done.”

“The son of the deceased called today; he is very unhappy, but, unfortunately, it is not possible to appeal the decision,” the lawyer said.

Shak noted that Nogmov has not received any punishment, even though after the high-profile crime, residents of Kabardino-Balkaria, discussing the murder on social media, demanded the harshest possible punishment for the killer. She added that Nogmov’s father, who works for the Federal Penitentiary Service, has also not been suspended from service.

The "Caucasian Knot" has written about other cases where participation in the SVO allowed those convicted of serious violent crimes to be released without serving a sentence. For example, former police officer and Rostov-on-Don resident Vladislav Biryukov, sentenced to 16 years for the murder of his wife in 2019, was amnestied after participating in fighting in Ukraine.

On February 4, 2021, former police officer from North Ossetia Vadim Tekhov was found guilty of the murder of his ex-wife Regina Gagieva. The court sentenced him to 16 years in prison. In May 2023, Gagieva's relatives said that Tekhov was seen in Vladikavkaz and demanded an explanation from the prosecutor's office about the release of the convicted man. In the summer of 2025, Tekhov was buried in Vladikavkaz, and his death was not related to the In combat.

In Volgograd, Arsen Melkonyan, who never served his sentence for the death of realtor Roman Grebenyuk after a conflict in a parent-teacher chat, was able to return to the combat zone after a new sentence for threatening a judge, a pretrial detention center employee, and his ex-wife.