IStories proves identity of Russian soldier who robbed Irpin house, left Polaroid selfie

A Russian soldier robbed a house in Ukraine’s Irpin, took a selfie with a Polaroid camera and left the photo at the scene, according to Ukrayinska Pravda. IStories have managed to prove his identity.

Valeriya, the owner of the house, returned home in May and found the photo.

“I found the picture under the rug as I returned home. I saw that my Polaroid camera was damaged and I feared they might have put something into it. When I saw the photo, I realised that the soldier thought the camera was broken as he saw a black picture coming out of it. It takes some time for a picture to develop,” she said.

Valeriya’s neighbours told her the Russian soldiers had been residing in the area for about three weeks. They have stolen Valeriya’s gold jewellery and “several petty items,” she says.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, says the soldier in question is Nikita Tretyakov from Rostov-on-Don, aged 25.

IStories, a Russian independent media outlet, says Fedorov is wrong and the soldier is in fact Pavel Pilantov of Kandalaksha, Murmansk region.

IStories identified Pilantov using several public photos, as well as secondary evidence. They say Pilantov serves in a guards air assault regiment based in Pskov. Soldiers from the same regiment were proven to have occupied Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel by numerous media.

IStories have also found out that Pilantov has over 70,000 rubles (€1,000) worth of debt to his name. They also managed to get his father on the phone, although he refused to speak in a rude manner.