Former policeman Mikhail Popkov, who killed more than 80 women, confessed to other murders and wants to go to Ukraine to fight in the ranks of Russian mercenaries. Popkov is also known as the "Angara maniac", he is serving two life sentences. His words were published by Vesti Irkutsk (VGTRK holding). The publication reported that now Popkov was transferred from Mordovia to Irkutsk because of his confession to murders for which he was not previously charged.
The interviewer asked Popkov what his wish was. He replied that he wanted to "join the army" and did not mind going to war, although he was afraid of the cold.
— What is your dream?
- Join the army.
- Do you have a desire?
- If I say that I have such a desire, it will not be entirely sincere. Still, because this is not a computer toy, and this is not an art book. And if we really proceed, objectively, honestly, we would still stretch out January-February, the most frosts. For me, cold weather is worse. I would have agreed without even thinking. (...) From a warm room, now to be in a cold trench ... How many people will be enough there? ... The fact is that I can still doubt, not doubt. This is half the job. But no one can offer me yet. If you take your military registration specialty, then I think that it is now quite in demand, although now, probably, everything is more modern: radio electronics and so on. But I have been in prison for at least 10 years, in general, I think that it will not be so difficult to quickly study it.
The Angarsk maniac committed crimes in the period from 1992 to 2010, mainly in Angarsk and its environs. At the same time, until 1998, he worked in the police. Popkov killed over 80 women, as well as one policeman. He was arrested after the resumption of the criminal case and comparison in March 2012 of his genotype and the results of a molecular genetic examination of the remains of the victims, conducted back in 2003.