Trial for the case: the trial of the "SWAT team" has begun

On June 1, the Second Western District Military Court began considering the case of the gang of former serviceman Pavel Khristev. According to investigators, the group, created from former special forces and military personnel, specialized in contract killings and kidnappings. Among them is the murder of Igor Fominov, adviser to the Minister of Railways, and Vladislav Sashchikhin, mayor of the Ozersk district near Moscow, who was blown up by bandits along with his wife. There are a total of 31 episodes in the case, they relate to the period from 1998 to 2023. The defendants are also charged with robbery, banditry, kidnapping by an organized group, extortion, illegal trafficking of weapons and ammunition.

What are the "special forces" accused of?

The high-profile case in the Second Western District Military Court started with a delay of almost three hours. This was due to the fact that the lawyer of one of the 11 defendants was busy in another trial. All this time, eight jurors and 22 reserve members of the panel, as well as the lawyers of the defendants, had to wait for a lawyer. After that, the court closed the trial from the press. However, the lawyers told the Izvestia correspondent that the gang leader did not admit guilt.

The leader of the group, according to investigators, is former military officer Pavel Khristev, who attracted his son Alexander, a graduate of the Ryazan Higher Airborne School, to the gang. Operatives detained both suspects in March 2023. Besides them, there are nine other defendants in the dock, including Sergei Volostnykh (a former special forces officer of the Main Directorate for Drug Control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs "Grom"), retired Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vladimir Novgorodov and the head of staff of the Special Rapid Reaction Unit (SOBR) "Lynx" Alexei Alpatov.

Also among the defendants are Ivan Pilipyuk, Dmitry Kushakov, Alexey Kuznetsov, Sergey Anisimov and Maxim Pikalov, and entrepreneur Irina Egorova. The prosecution believes that Egorova, in an effort to take over the company she worked for, ordered the murders of its owner, his son, and the firm's accountant — and the gang members executed the order.

Operating in Moscow, the Moscow region and the Kaluga region, bandits also shot Igor Fominov, an adviser to the Minister of Railways (he was ordered by businessman Sergei Lipatov, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in February 2026), attempted murder of a State Duma consultant, killed several criminal authorities, the owner of the Krasnogvardeysky market in Moscow and his cohabitant. The group also tried to eliminate the criminal boss Maxim Lazovsky (Max the Lame), but mistakenly shot his driver.

According to the totality of the crimes, most of the defendants face life imprisonment.

How severe will the sentence be

Lawyer Pavel Chigileichik believes that the accused "should be tried to the fullest extent of the law and given a harsh sentence."

— Although the jury, in theory, can show loyalty to the defendants. Recently, there was also a murder trial in the early 2000s, but the jury acquitted the accused because there was no concrete evidence of his involvement. If there is all the necessary evidence — witnesses and evidence, I think the jury will rely on this first of all. They will tell you whether the defendant is guilty or not, and whether he deserves leniency. It depends on the defendant's family circumstances, whether they involved him in criminal activity by force or not.

Some members of the group are charged with article 209, "banditry," and they always get long sentences for it. Even if the jury decides that the defendants deserve leniency, they will still receive a minimum of ten years, the lawyer told Izvestia.

"The jury is considering the case, as these are serious crimes," lawyer Alexander Zasorin added. — They only participate in such heavy trains.

Regarding the participation of representatives of law enforcement agencies in the organized criminal group, the interlocutor of Izvestia did not express surprise. According to him, even in the late 90s, which include the first episodes of the criminal case, the security forces "were not in high esteem," they could have their salaries delayed, and therefore some went into crime.