Evgeniy (surname not established)
Victim record SAM-1995-V103 · Samashki, Chechnya · First Russian-Chechen War · 8 April 1995
Recorded original name: Евгений · Year of birth: 1971 · Date of death: 8 April 1995 · Location: Sovetskaya Street, Samashki · Source entry: Memorial Appendix 3, no. 103. His surname was not established by Memorial.
What the investigation established
Memorial documented the death of a Russian man known as Evgeniy, who lived at the home of Gelani Pekaev, also recorded under the adoptive name Viktor Bordunenko. In its account of sniper shootings during the military operation, Memorial explicitly lists two separate victims: Gelani Pekaev (entry 24) and the Russian man Evgeniy who was staying with him (entry 103).
Appendix 3 records that Evgeniy was reportedly shot by a sniper at about 9 a.m. on 8 April when moving from a storeroom to the house. The source names the homeowner Louise Muradova as a witness and refers to a village administration list. The surrounding narrative describes the two men separately, even though the recorded time and place of their deaths are similar.
Identity verified as a distinct record
An earlier editorial review raised the possibility that entry 103 repeated entry 24 because both descriptions refer to a sniper shooting at the same home and time. Memorial’s narrative in section 9.2.2 explicitly distinguishes the two men, identifying Evgeniy as a Russian resident staying with Pekaev. The source also records distinct years of birth: 1971 for Evgeniy and 1942 for Pekaev/Bordunenko. The evidence therefore supports maintaining two separate memorial profiles.
Evgeniy’s full surname and precise personal history remain unknown. No photograph has been identified as a verified portrait of him. The reference to his mother in Memorial’s report is not republished as a means of identifying living relatives. This profile does not determine the identity or individual criminal responsibility of the shooter.
Primary sources and linked record
Memorial Human Rights Centre, “By All Available Means… The Russian Interior Ministry Operation in Samashki, 7–8 April 1995”, section 9.2.2 (deaths attributed to sniper fire) and Appendix 3, entry 103. Republished text of Memorial’s findings (Russian). The primary report explicitly distinguishes entries 24 and 103.
Related victim: Gelani Pekaev / Viktor Bordunenko (Memorial no. 24). Both men are documented as separate casualties of a reported sniper shooting in the same household.
Return to the complete 103-person register · Samashki historical case file
