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The court has recognized the evidence collected by the Moscow region investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee as sufficient to convict Konstantin Klimenko, 46. He was found guilty of crimes under part 1 of article 209 (banditry), 32 facts of the crime under paragraph “a” of part 4 of article 162 (robbery), part 2 of article 105 (murder in connection with the official activity) and article 222 of the RF Criminal Code (illegal storage of firearms).

The court and investigators have established that Klimenko in May 2008, organized a steady armed gang with the purpose to rob people and gas stations in the territory of the Moscow region and Moscow city. The group consisted of Klimenko’s acquaintances: a 35-year old resident of Moscow and a 29-year old rescuer of Moscow city Main Office of Emergency Ministyr of Russia Maksim Tokarev, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Klimenko lead the gang in person and participated in crimes. In the period from February 2008 to December 2009, he, being a part of the steady armed group, committed 32 assaults related to robbery on gas stations in Pushkinsky, Sergievo-Pasadsky, Krasnogorsky, Domodedovsky, Naro-Fominsky, Leninsky, Mytishchinsky, Podolsky, Odintsovsky, Noginsky, Shchelkovsky districts and in towns of Dedovsk, Krasnogorsk, Dolgoprudny, Khimly, Balashikha, Troitsk. Breaking into the stations, the criminals beat up the employees and threatening with firearms demanded to give them money and other valuables. Over this period the gang robbed the organizations for a total of more than 4 million rubles.

On 26 December 2009, at night, Klimenko and other gangsters assaulted a gas station located on a ring road in Moscow. After the assault, trying to escape a pursuit of junior police operative of crime detection department Dmitry Novikov and policeman-cynologist Sergey Tolstikov, Klimenko shot in them from a TT gun no less than 4 times, then from a submachine gun – no less than 18 times at first and then no less than 10 times. 23-year old Nikonov was wounded and rushed into hospital and 35-year old Tolstikov was killed on the spot. In this skirmish, one of gangsters the 35-year old Moscow resident was also deadly wounded.

As a result of joint and skillfully planned actions by the officers of Moscow region Main Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee and Moscow region Main Directorate of Interior Ministry Klimenko was detained on a hot scent. His accomplice Maksim Tokarev was detained in April 2010.

The investigators have performed a lot of investigation operations: more than 190 witnesses have been questioned, this allowed proving a series of assaults committed by the gang.

The Moscow regional court sentenced Klimenko to life in special security correctional facility. In addition the court ruled to exact from him more than 2 million rubles to compensate moral and material damage inflicted on 32 gas stations.