Killing of Vladislav Tornovoy

Vladislav Tornovoy, a 23-year-old man, was killed during the night of 9–10 May 2013 in the Krasnoarmeisky district of Volgograd, Russia, following Day of Victory celebrations. His body was discovered at around 7 a.m. on 10 May 2013 in the yard of a building on Rossiiskaya Street. He had suffered extensive injuries and other severe abuse. Forensic investigators determined he had died at around 1 a.m. Investigators said an unsuccessful attempt had also been made to burn his body.

Investigators identified Tornovoy's social circle as a starting point and located several potential suspects, including a 22-year-old friend who had attended the same school as the victim, and a 27-year-old acquaintance with a prior theft conviction. A third young man was identified as an eyewitness to the killing. The three men — named in reporting as Alexey Burkov, Anton Smolin, and Pavel Semikin — were all arrested. They were described as Tornovoy's closest friends who had visited his home on many occasions. One of the men had a previous jail sentence, and another had been placed on probation for separate offenses; investigators stated that each of the detained men had committed homophobic acts before this killing.

Accounts of the motive differed among investigators. Badma Gilyandikov, an investigator on the case, attributed the killing to personal dislike. Andrey Gapchenko, a senior investigator with the District Investigative Division of the Investigative Committee in the region, said the motive was the discovery of the victim's homosexuality, though he noted this specific claim had not been, and would not be, verified. In an interview with RIA Novosti, Gapchenko relayed that, according to one suspect, Tornovoy had come out to his friends while they were drinking, and the other men had intended it as a joke to undress him and send him home without clothes, but the situation escalated beyond that. Gapchenko also stated that investigators were considering other possible motives that could not be disclosed while the investigation was ongoing.

The trial of the three accused men began in December 2013 at the Volgograd Regional Court and was held behind closed doors. Court press secretary Vladimir Shevchenko said the closure was due to the need to discuss the victim's private life during proceedings. The court ordered that the three suspects be sent to the Serbsky Center in Moscow for psychiatric examinations, with further sessions to follow once those examinations were completed. Tornovoy's family did not attend the court session, and defense lawyers declined to comment on the case.