Alyona Savchenko and Alina Orlova

Alyona Savchenko and Alina Orlova are two Russian women from Khabarovsk who, in 2017, both received prison sentences for severe animal torture and assault.

They are known as the Butchers of Khabarovsk.

Background

The case against Alina Orlova and Alena Savchenko was filed in the fall of 2016 after photographs of the women torturing animals surfaced on the Dvach web forum.

A screenshot of the women planning on social media to “shoot, chop, and slice!” their next animal victim appeared alongside the photographs. The two girls systematically abused animals, mutilated, and killed them with the use of sadistic methods and recorded it in a snuff film (possibly considered to be an animal crush video), said the Investigative Committee, in charge of probing serious cases. An incident involving an attack on a Khabarovsk woman with a bat and a pneumatic gun was also included in the case, as was a case in which they allegedly lured in a man for sex before beating and attempting to rob him.

According to the Interfax news agency the women were both 17 at the time of their arrest in November though some Russian media reported they are in their early 20s.

Savchenko, who was also charged with insulting religious believers and inciting hatred, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison on Friday. The Industrial District Court of Khabarovsk judge handed Orlova a sentence of three years and ten days in prison. The pair were also charged with a separate allegation of armed robbery, while Savchenko and male friend Valery Smyshlyaev, 18, faced court accused of duping a man on a date with an underage girl, and then seeking to blackmail him by accusing him of being a pedophile. Investigators indicated they believed he had knowledge of the animal cruelty.

Orlova had initially denied her involvement but her distinctive tattoo was seen on online pictures. 

When Savchenko was detained, it was alleged she called herself the 'Devil's Duchess', and in one image she was shown holding a recently-killed puppy's heart with the  caption: 'It's for you Anubis' - the original Egyptian 'god of the dead'.

She claimed that she needed 'to be constantly covered in blood to feel warmth', she said. Her clothing in macabre online postings is shown smeared in blood from the dead animals. 

The prosecution initially fought for a six-year sentence but both Orlova and Savchenko pleaded guilty to the crimes. 

Video footage of Savchenko bullying homeless people and offensive social media posts served as evidence for her extended sentence.