Escape, Mostovoy: Russian national team football player and businessman tried to kidnap in St. Petersburg

The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against intruders who first tried to kidnap Zenit football player Andrei Mostovoy, and two days later abducted the son-in-law of State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Makarov. The four detainees called extortion of money their goal, and the kidnappers were coordinated by an unknown person through the Telegram messenger. Read more about the high—profile case in the Izvestia article.

Who tried to kidnap famous people

The arrest of four suspects in the abduction became known on Monday morning.

On the night of October 23, four men tried to kidnap Zenit football player Andrei Mostovoy, 27, on Vyazovaya Street, and on the evening of October 25, businessman Sergei Selegen, who is the son-in-law of State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Makarov, was abducted.

Izvestia has footage of the arrest and interrogation of the intruders, in which the defendants in the case explain that they were ordered to kidnap people by a certain "Glory Satanist" on Telegram. One of the suspects explained that he accepted this "job" because his father needed surgery. Another reported that the purpose of the abduction was to extort money. A third detainee called the incident a "fake abduction."

All the detainees confirmed that the instructions were given to them by a "Glory Satanist" whom they allegedly do not know and have never seen.

According to Telegram channels, the kidnappers turned out to be students of the Maritime Academy — Stepan M., Samir P., Rustam H. and Vladislav Ya. All of them were born in 2005-2006.

Criminal cases have been initiated on the grounds of crimes provided for in paragraphs "a, b, g, z" of Part 2 of Article 126 of the Criminal Code (kidnapping), Article 162 of the Criminal Code (robbery), as well as under Part 3 of Article 30 of paragraph "a" of Part 2 of Article 126 of the Criminal Code (attempted kidnapping). All four of them have already been searched.

How the abductions took place

The first episode occurred on the night of October 23 near a grocery store on Vyazovaya Street. Several men attacked Mostovoi and tried to put him in the passenger compartment of a minibus. There is a video recording of the incident, which shows how the football player fights back and runs away from the kidnappers with the help of another person — this is hockey player Alexander Grakun. They escaped from the intruders on Sportivnaya Street.

On October 25, the defendants in the case still managed to kidnap a man, 50—year-old Sergei Selegen, who was waiting at a store on Krestovsky Island. They put him in an SUV, handcuffed him, drove him around the city and demanded that he transfer money to a cryptocurrency wallet, and also demanded to contact his family. They immediately called the law enforcement agencies.

The Investigative Committee confirmed both episodes, pointing out that all the participants in the crime were detained during the release of Sergei Selegen. The operation involved soldiers of the Russian National Guard's Granit SOBR with the assistance of the Investigative Committee of Russia, the FSB of Russia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. According to the Investigative Committee, the defendants in the case forced Sergei Selegen to transfer 210 thousand rubles, and also demanded to give them 10 million rubles.

Who were they trying to kidnap

Andrey Mostovoy is a Zenit football player from St. Petersburg. The team is in fourth place in the current Russian championship draw. On Sunday, a few days after the attempted abduction, Andrei Mostovoy entered the field in a victorious match with Dynamo Moscow in the main squad and scored one of the goals.

The footballer is 27 years old, he has been at Zenit since 2019. He played 190 matches for the St. Petersburg team and scored 39 goals, including four goals in 16 games this season. Four-time champion of Russia, winner of the Russian Cup and five-time winner of the Russian Super Cup with Zenit. According to media reports, he earns more than $1.3 million per year.

He played 20 matches for the Russian national team, scored three goals.

Sergey Selegen, according to open data, runs the Physics Development company, which is engaged in construction. This is a large organization that, among other things, is a developer on Matisov Island in St. Petersburg. The company offers premium class accommodation.

He is also the founder of five operating companies that are engaged in the construction, management and rental of real estate.

Sergey Selegen is the son—in-law of Vyacheslav Makarov, a member of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market since October 12, 2021, first deputy head of the United Russia faction in the lower house of parliament. Prior to that, Vyacheslav Makarov had been chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg for almost 10 years.