The assailants who brutally murdered Yury Vlasko received a combined 45 years in prison following trial.
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Buryatia has sentenced the men behind the brutal murder of Russian wrestling champion to lengthy prison sentences.
35-year-old Yevgeny Munkuev was sentenced to 17 years in prison; Anton Sanzhiev, 30, was handed a 16.5 year sentence, while their accomplice, 33-year-old Yevgeny Badmaev, will face 12 years of imprisonment. All three were deemed guilty of the murder of Yury Vlasko, a two-time European champion and member of the Russian national team.
Vlasko’s murder took place on July 29, 2017, on the shores of Lake Baikal in Buryatia. The athlete and his friends were on vacation in the South Siberian region when a brawl ensued between them and a handful of men believed to be local criminals. During the fighting, Vlasko was stabbed in the chest and hit on the head with a rebar. The locals fled the scene, leaving the wrestler on the beach covered in blood. He died at the scene of the crime.
Vlasko was a Master of Sports in freestyle wrestling and two-time winner of the European Championship. His accomplishments include winning international tournaments in Iran and Turkey, as well as the Cup of Russia.
Yury Vlasko is also the son of the late Vladimir Vlasko, known in criminal circles under nickname Volodya Khokhol. The father was involved in illegal jade mining and controlled the transport routes in the Narodny market before being assassinated in 2010. His son, 13 years old at the time, only outlived him by seven years.