The court in St. Petersburg arrested the head of the municipality in the case of the murders in 2003

The Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg has arrested the head of the Dachnoye municipality, Vadim Sagalaev. He is suspected of organizing the murders committed in 2003. This was announced on December 30 by the joint press service of the city courts.

"The investigation established that no later than June 2003, in the territory of St. Petersburg, Sagalaev, who has been the head of the municipality and deputy of the VII convocation of the inner-city municipality of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Dachnoye Municipality, acting as chairman of the municipal council of Dachnoye Municipality, and [Sergey] Fomin (another the person involved in the case. — Ed.) <...>, created and led a stable organized group with the aim of committing particularly serious violent crimes," the Telegram channel of the authorities says.

According to investigators, the organized group operated from June to October 2003. According to investigators, Sagalaev and his accomplices planned the murder of three people: a businessman, his wife and a security guard. The crime was related to a conflict over the redistribution of shares in VNIIGIDROLYSIS, a real estate management company, and Saintek, a drug manufacturer. The perpetrator received a reward of $10,000 for the murder.

Later, Sagalaev, according to the case file, acquired large blocks of shares in these companies. He is also suspected of attempted murder of another person in a generally dangerous manner.

Sagalaev was detained on December 29, 2025, and charged. He pleaded not guilty and asked the court to impose house arrest. However, the court did not grant his request and arrested mundep until February 28, 2026.

The day before, it was reported that the state prosecution had asked the Moscow Garrison Military Court to arrest in absentia and put on the wanted list Dmitry Frolov, the former deputy head of the K department of the Economic Security Service (SEB) of the FSB of Russia, who is accused of accepting bribes. It was noted that the court granted the request of the state prosecution, declaring Frolov wanted and ordering his arrest for a period of two months from the moment of his detention and extradition to Russia. The proceedings in the case of the ex-colonel have also been suspended, as he actually disappeared from the investigation, the state prosecutor said at the meeting.

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