News

The Jury considered evidence collected by the Primorye Territory investigating authorities of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation sufficient to proclaim the guilty verdict to 11 members of the “Ryzhykhov” gang, namely Viktor Taranenko, Vladimir Taranenko, Sergey Avilov, Aleksandr Musharyapov, Aleksey Yakupov, Anton Rostotsky, Pavel Korolkov, Oleg Fobyanchuk, Sergey Kasyanov, Yevgeny Ostrovsky, and Aleksandr Kozharov. Depending on the role of each, they have been found guilty of committing crimes under Article 209 of the RF Criminal Code (banditism), Article 222 of the RF Criminal Code (illegal purchase, transfer, sale, possession and carrying of weapons), Article 223 of the RF Criminal Code (illegal manufacturing of weapons), Article 105 of the Criminal Code (murder), Part 3 of Article 30, Article 105 of the RF Criminal Code (attempted murder), Part 3 of Article 33, Article 105 of the RF Criminal Code (organization of a murder), Article 162 of the RF Criminal Code (robbery), Article 111 of the RF Criminal Code (intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm), Article 126 of the RF Criminal Code (kidnapping), Article 166 of the RF Criminal Code (motor vehicle theft), Article 318 of the RF Criminal Code (violence against a public officer), Article 163 of the RF Criminal Code (extortion).

According to investigators, the gang had been operating from 1998 to 2007 in several localities of Primorye Territory: Vladivostok, Artem, Ussuriysk, Nakhodka and Shkotovsky District. The men are accused of more than 40 episodes of offenses against the person and property of citizens, namely contract killings, murders in the division of spheres of influence in the criminal world of Primorye Territory, killings of gang members in the struggle for power inside the gang, violence against police officers in the execution of their duties. Several murders had been committed in socially dangerous way, namely by detonating explosive devices in the entrance halls of multi-apartment buildings. A total of more than 10 people have been killed by the members of this gang.

It was established by investigators and the court that one of the episodes of gang’s criminal activity had been the murder of a dentist by Gorbachyovs brothers they had committed in 2007 for cash consideration. Local entrepreneur Aleksey Moskalenko asked the head of the gang Gorbachev to kill the dentist for cash consideration, because he could not accept the fact that the latter had started a family with the former wife of the plotter. The hitmen Aleksey and Yevgeny Gorbachyovs received 100,000 rubles and a share in his revenue derived from the operation of a bending machine in the use of the contractor as payment for the dentist’s murder. Within a few years the brothers have made a profit of more than 3 million rubles.

Hearings in criminal cases against the organizer of the gang Aleksey Gorbachev and his brother Yevgeny had been held earlier in the Primorye territorial court. Their hirer Aleksey Moskalenko had also been convicted. Verdicts against them have already entered into force.

Criminal investigation had lasted for almost 2 years. Lots of investigation operations had been carried out. The gangs’ weapons, namely a few dozen firearms, 5,000 pieces of ammunition, a significant amount of TNT, plastic explosives and other explosives had been seized during the searches and examinations of crime scenes. The criminal case comprised 60 volumes. Operational support of the criminal case was performed by the staff of the Department of Criminal Investigation of the Russian Ministry of the Interior and the staff of the Primorye Territory Main Office of the Russian Ministry of the Interior.

The court will pass its sentence on the basis of the jury's verdict in the near future.