Ukraine kills 9 out of 11 Russian mafia bosses Putin freed from prison

02 May 2024 , 07:25

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Russian crime lord Shakro Molodoy, 71, was one of the country's most notorious gangsters (Image: Sergey Bobylev/TASS)

Ukraine has killed nine out of 11 known Russian mafia dons freed from jail by Vladimir Putin to fight for him in the war, it has emerged.

The dictator agreed to pardon the criminal bosses - including brutal murderers - if they survived six months on the frontline. Only one survived this period, and another Dmitry Vedernikov, convicted of 11 murders and freed from a 24-year jail sentence, has only just been sent to the war and is still alive, according to the analysis by Agentsvo media outlet.

The leader of the Metsenatovskie Gang, he was also convicted of 52 cases of extortion of money for stolen cars in Siberia. The audacious Alexander Enaleev, 56, was notorious for leading the Trassoviki gang targeting long-distance truck drivers.

He dressed as a police officer, stopped truckers, robbed and killed them, and cemented their bodies in barrels. He was jailed for 25 years but Putin approved his release less than halfway through his sentence and he died fighting against Ukraine for Wagner's mercenary army.

Sergei Maksimenko, 59, was the leader of the Olympia crime group based in Penza (social media/e2w)

His right-hand man Sergei Zuzlev, 46, who had been on the run for nine years, was jailed in 2021 for 18 years. He remains alive after completing his six months fighting for the dictator in the war.

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Andrey Berezhnykh, 55, was the leader of the Balakovo gang of killers, which had operated for 15 years, holding sway in the Saratov region. He was sent to a maximum security penal colony for 25 years for murder, attempted murder and using a grenade launcher on a local TV station. Berezhnykh was recruited by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin - who later died in a plane crash after falling out with Putin - and was killed in Ukraine in March 2023. The godfather’s funeral was in a cathedral, his coffin draped in Russian and Wagner flags.

Another crime lord slain in the war, Sherali Khatamov, was second in command of the thief-in-law Mamuka Galsky's mob. He was jailed for 16 years for the attempted murder of a rival mafia gangster, and eight counts of extortion, fraud and hooliganism. He was killed allegedly near Soledar in January 2023.

Mobster Sergei Maksimenko, 59, leader of Olympia criminal group in Penza, led a racket engaged in prostitution, extortion, and murder. Sentenced to 25 years in 2014, he died after being freed on Putin’s orders in December 2022 while fighting for Wagner.

Leader of the Tambov criminal group Roman Zuev, who was killed while fighting in Ukraine following his release from Russian jail (social media/e2w)

Mafia boss Igor Kusk was the leader of a murderous gang in Tatarstan, for which he was sentenced to 23 years in jail in 2015. He went to the frontline with Wagner and died after being hit in the head by Ukrainian shrapnel while fighting in the Donbas region near Bakhmut.

Roman Kibirev’s gang in the remote Transbaikal region was convicted of more than 50 serious crimes including assault, extortion, car theft, robbery, and distributing drugs and weapons. He died fighting for Putin-loyal Wagner just five months before ending his 16-year sentence.

Andrey Berezhnykh, who was the leader of the gang of killers in Saratov (social media/e2w)

Ivan Neparatov, 33, was the leader of a criminal gang committing robbery, extortion, and murder. He was convicted of personally killing five and was freed to fight in Ukraine after serving less than half his sentence. He was gunned down near Bakhmut. Putin posthumously awarded Neparatov a courage medal.

Roman Zuev, leader of the sinister Tambov Gang, was sentenced to 24 years in a maximum security prison for murder, gang rape, kidnapping and other crimes. He perished last year while fighting in Ukraine.

Leader of the Trans-Baikal criminal group "Metsenatovskie" Dmitry Vedernikov (social media/e2w)

Nikolay Arshinov, 50, aka Carbon, died fighting for special forces unit Akhmat, linked to ruthless Chechen leader and Putin crony Ramzan Kadyrov. His gang had been involved in protection rackets infiltrating state bodies and law enforcement and was freed from a 24-year sentence to fight. He died in Ukraine in May 2023.

While the recruitment from jails of murderers and rapists by Putin was known, the scale of the freeing of mafia lords was not realised. It is suspected that more have gone to war since Shakro Molodoy, 71, Russia's most senior mafia king, only last year signalled his approval for them to fight for the authorities in Ukraine. The names of others are not yet known. Molodoy - real name Zakhary Kalashov and nicknamed “gangland’s Putin” because of his underworld power - was released from jail ‘on health grounds’ in March as a reward.

Will Stewart