A Russian man who had spent the last 22 years of his life in a penal colony for serious crimes, recently escaped on the very day he was supposed to be released.

According to the SHOT Telegram channel, Kamoljon Kalonov had been serving a lengthy 22-year-sentence for a double murder, theft,  and possession of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and explosive devices, but he was supposed to be released from the IK-19 penal colony in the village of Markova near Irkutsk last week. However, the regional department of the Federal Penitentiary Service told RIA Novosti that on the morning of his release day, at around 4 in the morning, Kalonov disappeared from the colony without informing anyone and is now supposedly on the run.

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Originally from the city of Zima in the Irkutsk region, Kamoljon Kalonov was first convicted for organizing a criminal community and was released from prison in 1997. He was then convicted again in 2001 and imprisoned for 22 years. Technically, anyway, because the colony he disappeared from is open facility where convicts can move around freely.

The fact is that, for those serving time in a colony-settlement, absence for three days is not considered a prison escape, but rather an evasion from the route. If during this time he does not come back or is not found, then the inmate risks a criminal punishment of up to 4 years in prison,” the press service of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Irkutsk Region wrote in a statement.

After 22 years, Kalonov was going to be released on parole and sent to forced labor, but he apparently decided to go on the run on the very day of his release.

Sources: SHOT (Russian), RIA Novosti (Russian)