Hit of the law: singer Avraham Russo sued for half a million from his kidnapper

The Lublin court granted the claim of singer Avraham Russo to the defendant in the case of his abduction in 2004. More than 20 years after the crime, the popular artist demanded compensation for moral damages of 5 million rubles from one of his abductors, Vladimir Shestopalov. But the court estimated the suffering of the artist at 500 thousand. According to investigators, Russo was abducted on the instructions of the former owner of the Cherkizovsky market in the capital, Telman Ismailov. A criminal case was opened against Shestopalov, but it was closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Details of the proceedings can be found in the Izvestia article.

What did the court decide on der Russo

On July 17, the Lublin District Court of Moscow considered the claim of singer Avraham Russo against Vladimir Shestopalov, a defendant in the case of his abduction. According to investigators, Shestopalov was one of eight people who abducted Russo in 2004 on the instructions of former Cherkizovsky market owner Telman Ismailov (who is wanted).

Then Russo was brought to the Prague restaurant on Arbat, which at that time belonged to Ismailov. There he was severely beaten, demanding to sign a cooperation contract with the ex-owner of Cherkizon. Then the singer was taken to the Moscow region, where he was held on the territory of one of the dachas.

In February of this year, more than 20 years after the crime, the artist demanded that Shestopalov pay him 5.7 million rubles in moral damages. This amount included related expenses, including the services of lawyers. Initially, the court rejected Russo's claim due to inaccuracies in the documents. The singer corrected them and went to court again.

As Russo's lawyer Andrey Alyoshkin told Izvestia, the singer was trying to achieve at least some justice, because Shestopalov was not punished for his actions - the criminal case was terminated in 2024 due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

"He wanted justice, because it's hard to live with the feeling that not all the participants were responsible," the lawyer said.

Ismailov was the first to "promote" the singer after his arrival in Russia from Syria in the early 2000s. In court, Abraham Russo said that Telman Ismailov tried to force him to work only for himself and refuse to cooperate with another producer— Joseph Prigozhin. This, according to him, was the reason for the abduction. As a result, Russo began working exclusively for Ismailov.

Ismailov considered Rousseau a "pet"

Ismailov considered Rousseau his "thing" and treated him as property, Andrei Alyoshkin told Izvestia.

—Ismailov believed that Russo was a pet that should sing on command and perform wherever he wanted,— the lawyer said. — Any deviation from this behavior caused Telman irritation.

According to the lawyer, the artist repeatedly tried to escape from Ismailov's custody, but the businessman blocked all his concert activities. Then Russo was forced to sign a contract with Ismailov's AST Group. The company was engaged in the hotel, restaurant, transportation, construction, jewelry and security business.

On August 19, 2006, Russo survived another assassination attempt — when the artist was returning home after a concert, his car was shot at. The singer was injured, and his driver was killed. The criminal case was opened almost immediately, but it was suspended many times. In 2018, Russo again contacted the police with a statement about this attempt — at that time, Telman Ismailov had already left Russia and was on the international wanted list. The singer called Ismailov the customer of both attempts.

"These people have ruined my health and, to a certain extent, my life," the singer explained his motives in court.

In Russia, Ismailov is also accused of murdering two businessmen — the owner of the Stroy Market shopping complexes, Vladimir Savkin, and the founder of the Lyublino Motors company, Yuri Brylev. Ismailov's whereabouts remained unknown for a long time, but in 2021 he was found in Montenegro and detained at the request of Russian law enforcement agencies.

Ismailov was placed in the Spuzh prison in Podgorica and wanted to be extradited — under the article for the murder of two or more persons in Russia, he faced up to life imprisonment. However, in the end, the Montenegrin authorities granted the former Russian billionaire political asylum.

Who has already been convicted of kidnapping Russo

In 2021, two people were convicted of kidnapping Russo: the bodyguard of Ismailov's nephew, Vladimir Gusakov, and businessman Elyar Damirov. The Presnensky District Court of Moscow sentenced them to six and five years, respectively, but they were not sent to the colony — the court released the defendants from punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

A similar situation has developed with Ismailov's nephew, the former director of the Prague restaurant, Zaur Mardanov. In 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony for kidnapping a singer and was also released from punishment due to the statute of limitations.

The case of the attempted murder of the singer in 2006 also came to court. Three defendants were walking through it. Vitaly Jura and Alexey Tryasnikov were sentenced to 9 and 12 years in a high-security penal colony. And the killer Mikhail Demkin, who shot Russo, did not live to see the verdict — he died in 2014.

Currently, the Moscow military garrison court, with the participation of a jury, is considering the criminal case of another person involved, a former freestyle wrestler from Chechnya and one of Ismailov's confidants, Tarkhan Eldukaev. The investigation considers him to be the organizer of the kidnapping of Russo in 2004 and the attempt on his life in 2006.

According to investigators, it was Eldukaev who was responsible for selecting the perpetrators who shot at Russo. And he, according to the singer's testimony, personally beat him at the Prague restaurant in 2004.

—In the restaurant, Eldukaev kicked Russo in the groin, verbally humiliated him and threatened him with a knife,— Andrei Alyoshkin said.

The former athlete was arrested in October 2023, and in September 2024, investigators dropped his criminal case on the abduction episode, also because of the statute of limitations. But there are no such deadlines for murder and attempted murder, the lawyer stressed.

Vladimir Shestopalov was the last to be arrested by the Basmanny Court of Moscow in September 2024. He was accused of kidnapping a person by a group of persons by prior agreement with the use of violence (Part 2 of Article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

During the confrontation, Russo identified his abductor, Andrei Alyoshkin said. Shestopalov is currently at large.

The first hearing on Russo's lawsuit against Shestopalov was scheduled to take place back in May. But the court postponed the hearing several times because none of the parties appeared at the trial.

Russo's abductor was punished with a ruble

The half a million rubles that the court awarded to Russo as moral damages is not a symbolic amount, but also not the maximum possible compensation under such circumstances, Alexey Gavrishev, head of AVG Legal, told Izvestia.

— The court took into account that the episode was real, the fact of moral suffering has been proven, — said the lawyer. — But, apparently, the court found no reason to consider the amount of damage extremely high.

When assigning the amount of compensation (and it is important for the parties to understand this), the court takes into account not only the severity of the suffering, but also the behavior of the parties in court, as well as attempts to negotiate, the lawyer noted. A criminal case that was previously initiated but terminated due to the statute of limitations does not prevent the filing of a claim for moral damage.

— In general, such a decision is a fairly typical practice in such cases, — Alexey Gavrishev added. — Courts in Russia rarely fully satisfy claims for moral damage, especially when it comes to amounts exceeding several hundred thousand rubles.

When filing a claim, the victim can claim any amount of damage, but in cases of kidnapping, the court rarely assigns more than 1 million, Irina Fast, chairman of the commission of the Russian Bar Association for determining the amount of compensation for moral damage, told Izvestia.

"Sometimes, in cases of serious injury to health and death, the courts award 5-10 million rubles," the lawyer said. — For example, one of our clients was awarded 5 million rubles for amputation of both legs. A similar amount was collected for the death of a child due to the fault of a doctor.

When determining the amount of damage, the court takes into account the severity of the suffering, the circumstances of the case and the guilt of the defendant, Irina Fast added. However, the courts do not have clear guidelines on the amount of compensation. Therefore, the final decision is always individual and depends not only on the specific situation, but also on the practice of a particular court and region, the lawyer said.

"Given that Shestopalov has been released from criminal liability, let it be at least a material measure for him," Olga Pychkova, Russo's lawyer, told Izvestia after the hearing.

She added that she would discuss the issue of appealing the decision of the Lublin Court with her principal.