A sinister child killer who fought for Vladimir Putin has been buried with “full military honours” after he died in the war in Ukraine.
Vladimir Shestakov, 42, was released from an 18-year jail sentence to serve with Wagner private military company.
Separately, pro-Putin Wagner was today revealed as again advertising for new recruits on X-rated sites after its earlier recruitment drive for new fighters was removed from the Pornhub site.
Murderer Shestakov was jailed after beating to death his girlfriend’s five year old son because he disliked the way the child jumped on a sofa.
He savagely hit the boy on the head, then crashed his skull against the wall, as the distraught mother tried to save the child.
Shestakov - who had previous convictions leading to jail sentences - then threw the child into the corridor.
The boy died from “repeated impacts of hard blunt objects with sufficient force”.
Shestakov was jailed in 2018 but despite his record as a child killer, he was freed to fight for Putin in Ukraine.
He died among thousands of other Russian troops in recent weeks in Bakhmut, say reports.
An official report stated: “He fulfilled his military duty with honour, [and] died at the age of 42….
“His courage and bravery in the name of the peaceful future of the Fatherland will forever be remembered.”
He was buried with "full military honours" at Yasnoye, in Orenburg region, said reports.
Convicts who complete six months at the frontline are promised by Putin to have their sentences annulled.
Shestakov died before his six months were up.
Wagner is run by close Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, who once supervised Kremlin banquets for the dictator.
As well as fighting in Ukraine, its mercenary fighters have also been deployed by the Kremlin in Syria and Africa.
The private military company has stalled its recruitment of convicts and is now advertising widely for new volunteers.
The Putin-backing outfit is also using adult sites in a desperate bid for new fighters in Russia.
Last month Pornhub "deleted" Wagner content because “political advertising is prohibited on the site”.
One new advert for use on Russian adult outlets shows a woman in lingerie telling a man: “Oh, handsome, I've never been ****ed like that…
“Where did you learn that?”
A man’s voice replies: "I’m from Wagner [private army].
“That's how we **** the AFU [Ukrainian army].
“And before that, we ****ed ISIS and the CIA.
“Oh, it's so ****ing great with Wagner.”
Despite its boasts of military prowess, Wagner is believed to have lost tens of thousands of its recruits in Ukraine, including huge losses in Bakhmut where fighting against the Ukrainians is still raging.