Zaur Aliyev, a Russian mobster freed from jail to fight in the ongoing war against Ukraine, has been executed after trying to flee the frontline.

According to the UK Sun, Aliyev, 47, was released under a controversial scheme that saw him sign up with the Wagner Group, Vladimir Putin’s private army, so he could fight on the side of Russia in the war.

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The scheme, which was launched in September, offered incarcerated murderers and other hardened criminals freedom in exchange for six months of fighting on the frontline.

Aliyev, previously the leader of one of the most powerful criminal clans in Moscow, was serving an 18-year sentence at one of Russia’s most notorious prisons when he accepted the offer.

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Since the scheme started, thousands of convicts including killers and rapists have been released from many Russian maximum-security prisons to fight in Ukraine in exchange for their freedom.

The crime boss, popularly known as Zaika or the rabbit, had already spent six years in jail for extortion, kidnapping and robbery when he took up the offer.