A 41-year-old warehouse worker has been arrested in Moscow after allegedly breaking into a first-floor apartment on Bakuninskaya Street and sexually assaulting the sleeping resident during the night of August 13.
The victim immediately reported the attack to law enforcement, leading officers to locate and detain the suspect. Moscow police revealed that the man had a prior criminal record and was previously convicted of similar sexual offenses.
Official details of the investigation were released by the Moscow city department of the Investigative Committee of Russia, the federal authority responsible for investigating serious criminal offenses across the Russian capital.
According to details published by Russian newspaper MK, the suspect had spent the evening attending a performance of the national show Kostroma at the Nadezhda Babkina Theater before walking toward the residential property. He gained access to the first-floor apartment by breaking the metal security grill installed over the window.
The homeowner woke up inside her bedroom after realizing she was not alone in bed. She found the intruder groping her under the blanket as he attempted to touch her intimate body parts. When the victim began screaming for help, the attacker fled the apartment into the street.
Escape to Vladimir and police questioning
Following his escape from the scene, the intruder traveled on foot to Moscow's Shchelkovsky Bus Station, the central long-distance transport hub in the eastern part of the capital. He then boarded a regional bus to travel to his home city of Vladimir, located roughly 120 miles east of Moscow.
During formal interrogation by investigators, the suspect stated that he could not remember any details of the break-in or the sexual assault. He claimed to law enforcement officers that he had been suffering from a severe headache throughout the entire day of the incident.
Bakuninskaya Street, where the intrusion took place, is a prominent street located in the historic Basmanny District of eastern Moscow. The Nadezhda Babkina Theater is an established cultural venue in the capital that regularly hosts traditional folk music and dance productions such as the Kostroma show.
Recent reported home intrusion incidents
The assault marks another high-profile home intrusion reported by Russian authorities, following an earlier incident where a man broke into the home of Dagestani singer Khadizha Magomedova and attacked her.
The suspect remains held in custody while investigators with the Investigative Committee compile evidence and proceed with criminal charges related to the illegal entry and sexual assault.
