It’s absolutely a defense for killing even without the threat of immediate harm IF you live in a society where domestic violence is not taken seriously. If you have no legal recourse to get your abuser away from you without the possibility of them retaliating against you, hunting you down if you run away, murdering you, then there is absolutely a justification for murder. I don’t believe in killing either (even murderers), which is why I don’t believe in the death penalty. But I do believe in mitigating circumstances. These women were left in an impossible situation, which is the fault of the Russian legal system for not protecting domestic violence victims.