Ahat bragin. Ahat Bragin

After an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Akhat Bragin, who was saved by a dovecote in Pesky, it was decided to plant a radio-controlled explosive device in the place where Bragin was supposed to appear sooner or later. At first, the overheated gangster minds of Kushnir's faction seriously considered the possibility of shooting down a plane with a football team and its president in the air during takeoff or landing. In this case, they intended to use a rocket launcher or, in the worst case, a grenade launcher. But in the end, they settled on a no less original version.

Judging by the testimony of the Bolotskys, the idea of ​​​​the explosion at the stadium belonged to Kushnir. Andrey Akulov and his close friend Igor Filippenko took up the laying of the radio-controlled device. For several nights, they chiselled a hole in the concrete base at the entrance to the tribune for honored guests. Then they laid five kilograms of plastite with a detonating device, which was activated by a radio signal.

The recess was carefully cemented. In addition, the place of laying was covered with a wooden step. Mining was carried out two to three weeks before the explosion. It was originally planned that Bragin would be killed at Shakhtar's match against Brugge. However, for some reason, the Greek did not come to the match.

Ryabin and Kushnir began to worry, fearing that the batteries of the explosive device would run out and it would not work. Subsequently, explosives experts confirmed that the batteries could indeed be discharged, especially since it rained for several days after the bombing in Donetsk. The bandits decided to repeat the attempt to eliminate Bragin at the very first Shakhtar game with Tavriya Simferopol. It was October 15, 1995.

Ten minutes before the arrival of the president of the football club, security drove up to the service entrance. She carefully examined all the nooks and crannies, went up to the podium and, not revealing anything suspicious, announced on the radio: the entrance is safe. At 17:03, when Bragin arrived at the stadium with his retinue of guards and entered the corridor leading to the second tier, Igor Filippenko, walking nearby in the uniform of a police officer, activated the remote device. He was covered in case of possible complications by the Major of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kalinin Regional Department - the same Sinenko, now already deported from Greece to Ukraine. According to investigators, Vadim Bolotskikh was also nearby, keeping in touch with the observers, who warned by radio about the appearance of Bragin. Death overtook Bragin and bodyguards near the entrance to the podium. The explosion was directed in such a way that it brought minimal destruction with maximum effect. After the explosion, taking advantage of the turmoil, all participants in the massacre quietly disappeared.

“Five officials were already on the podium: the chairman of the Donetsk Regional Sports Committee A. Kucherov, his deputy and three guests from the Crimea. front door and scattered human remains. Within a radius of 30 meters were lying hands, feet, entrails. Separately lay someone's stopped heart. The picture is not for the faint of heart. The regional administration allocated three special vehicles, which began to take the remains to the Kalinin morgue. It turned out to be almost impossible to carry out identification and identification. The pathologists put the brought parts of the bodies on six tables," writes Alexander Kuchinsky.

The current director of the PR department of FC Shakhtar, Mark Levitsky, was then an active journalist and commented on the football match between Shakhtar and Tavriya Simferopol. Commentary booths are located next to the VIP podium and Mark Yuryevich saw a lot of what the camera did not grab. It was surprising that Shakhtar president Oleksandr Bragin was late for the match. Five minutes had passed since the beginning of the match, when security appeared, followed by the president himself. A minute later there was a deafening explosion. "I thought that the wall behind the podium had shattered." Levitsky says. From his seat it was hard to see the place of the explosion. There were clouds of smoke above the box. Frightened spectators hurriedly left their seats and ran to the football field. The referee interrupted the match. Levitsky ran up to the cameraman, who was a little higher. "What's happened?" - asked. - "Better not go there. There is only blood and pieces of bodies on the podium," the operator said.

Fortunately, the fans were not injured - the VIP box fence served as a screen and the blast wave went up, turning its visitors into mush along the way ... I already mentioned that Bragin was identified only by the Rollex watch. Eyewitnesses of the explosion claim that due to the noise that is common in sports arenas, many people generally thought that a powerful firecracker was blown up by the fans. Law enforcement officers did not object to such an opinion and organizedly led the people out of the stands, avoiding panic.

According to the police, one of the guards survived, a certain Kukharev, who remained outside. He was taken to the hospital the next day. There was also an accidental victim - a barmaid who was hit by an explosive wave and hit the wall. The woman received a concussion and damage to the hip joint.

At that moment Lyubov Uspenskaya started her performance in the cinema-concert complex "Donetsk". “As soon as I managed to sing the first song,” the singer recalled, “the audience in the first rows got up and went to the exit. Most of them were with companions and held in their hands Cell Phones. I was shocked. This has never happened to me at concerts. I hardly finished my speech and only then did I find out that Bragin had died.

Some of my colleagues visited the crime scene. Then, of course, they were interrogated by the relevant authorities. I did not manage to collect their memories of these events, since many years have passed since then and all the personalities known to me left Donetsk - some left to conquer the capital of Ukraine, some went to Moscow, and some went abroad. Particularly interesting would be the memoirs of Boris Dobromyslov, a photojournalist for the Zhizn newspaper, who now lives in Australia. He was one of the first on the scene and managed to take a few shots before the arrival of officials. According to his friends, later the film was bought either by the relatives of the victims (according to one of the versions) or by the authorities.

People who knew Akhat Khafisovich closely claimed that he felt the approaching death: "I know that I will die soon, but I am not preparing for death. I only regret that I lived so little." The deceased was forty-two.

Akhat Bragin was buried according to Muslim custom. They washed the remains of the body, wrapped them in a burial shroud, carried them out into the courtyard of the house on a chinaz - a special stretcher, where hundreds of people who wanted to say goodbye had already crowded. A long funeral procession moved to the mosque near the Oktyabrskoye mine administration. Near the mosque, Mufti Aisa Khametov performed a prayer service for the deceased. Soon the body of Bragin was interred at the Proletarian cemetery. A helicopter circled over the funeral procession...

This is how Akhat Bragin, one of the most influential nouveaux riches in Donetsk and Ukraine, ended his days. "He is remembered as the first president of FC Shakhtar, who extended a hand of considerable financial assistance to a football team that was on the verge of a financial crisis in the mid-90s. An international youth football tournament and a regional association of pigeon lovers are named after him."

The fact that the murder of Bragin - at that time the undisputed leader of the Donbass business elite, which is now called the "Donetsk clan" - would take place in a way dangerous to the lives of many people, was allegedly known, except for the direct executor Filippenko (it was he who pressed the button on the remote control, disguised under the car alarm keychain) and the ringleaders, only he and Akulov. Bolotskikh himself was absent from Donetsk that day (in this part, he already changed his previous testimony at the trial). On the eve of these events, he allegedly traveled with Ryabin to Kharkov for a commercial deal related to oil. Returning to Donetsk, he immediately flew to Moscow, and arrived again in Ukraine only in the spring of next year. And during the preparation of the explosion, I visited the stadium and figured out what was happening, even sat at the match with Brugge, when the explosion broke due to Bragin's non-arrival.

However, representatives of the prosecution have a different opinion about the Bolotskys. At one time, the Russians searched the Bolotskys' apartment in Moscow and found several notebooks with notes on the explosive case. True, Moskvich explained that he gave an accurate description of the device blown up at the Shakhtar stadium because he saw it in one of the rented apartments in Donetsk when he arrived from Kharkov.

According to Bolotsky, about ten members of the gang took part in the operation. Including Sinenko, who was not a member of the group, but for some reason agreed to participate in this crime. It was he who was next to Filippenko to provide the latter with assistance if an unforeseen situation arises. So, at 5:02 p.m., the explosive device was detonated - it was at that moment that Bragin and the persons accompanying him entered the box. The TV picture accompanying the match perfectly shows how the camera shuddered as a result of the detonation ... As a result, five people were killed together with Akhat Bragin, three more were seriously injured. As Bolotskikh clarified, on the same day all the participants in the crime left the city: some moved to Kyiv, and some moved to Lugansk to rented apartments. Bolotskikh himself returned to Moscow. Kushnir went to Israel to not only sit there, but also to repay a debt from one of his acquaintances.

Interrogated in Israel is OK international program assistance in solving crimes, witness Boris Farfil confirmed that during a meeting at the Recital cafe in Haifa, Kushnir wanted to receive money in the amount of $300,000, which Cherevatchenko allegedly bequeathed to him. Maga was with Yevgeny Borisovich; according to the description of a resident of Haifa, he is a strong Caucasian, seemingly a fighter: muscular, thick, wide neck, "broken" ears. With regard to Farfil, both of his interlocutors were determined. Realizing that under the pretext of a will, money could not be obtained, Kushnir offered an old acquaintance to financially participate in the war with the opposing group. And to convince you how serious and constructive his intentions are, Yevgeny Borisovich mentioned that the explosion of the Grek at the Shakhtar stadium was his work. So if Boris financially supports his group in the struggle for influence in the region, then soon they will return to Donetsk together as winners. After that, Farfil Kushnir was never seen again. But I heard that he was killed. "Then the Kushnirists had to go underground for a whole year," most sources say. But it is not so.

The next step was the elimination of Alexander Momot, which took place in May 1996. And he is also charged with Kushnir's gang.

Alik Grek is a legendary man. No open source gives the date of his birth. Even Wikipedia is modestly silent about this - as if we are talking about some mythical founder of the Han Dynasty. A Tatar by nationality, Akhat Khafizovich was born and grew up in the Oktyabrsky settlement. His fellow believers firmly settled here immediately after the war, creating a compact ethnic settlement. Within its framework, Bragin's talents were formed.

Greek as a criminal character

Despite the reputation created by the press as the main Donetsk bandit, officially Grek has only two fairly innocent criminal episodes. In the mid-90s, the head of the city police, Arkady Boldovsky, who fiercely opposed Braign, described these episodes as follows: “Kuibyshevsky district court On November 24, 1971, he was sentenced to suspended imprisonment with a correctional term of two years, and in the courtroom he was released from custody. On February 17, 1974, together with his brothers, out of hooligan motives, he beats an underage guy. The injured party calms down, since no serious consequences have occurred for her, and the case is terminated.

A large-scale cheating business, the formation of an organized criminal group, connection with the Solntsevskaya organized criminal group, knocking money out of businessmen, provoking a gang war, shooting competitors - all this is attributed to Grek by researchers of the Donetsk mafia. The police documents do not contain any of this. In any case, no one has yet proved anything like this with a protocol in hand. Although, of course, arguments like “We don’t blow up anyone just like that” are difficult to dispute.

Greek as a businessman

Young Akhat Bragin started out in trade. The old-timers of the Oktyabrsky village love to tell legends about what an understanding butcher Alik was, how he did not regret throwing a bone to an indigent pensioner grandmother. Before the reconstruction of the village market (under Soviet rule - one of the best in terms of meat) there was even " workplace Alika” is a counter that some well-informed Donetsk residents even showed to the guests of the city.

With the beginning of perestroika, store 41 in the Oktyabrsky settlement passed under Bragin's management. They began to trade manufactured goods deficit. The author, then a young employee of a large-circulation mine newspaper, once tried, while performing an editorial assignment, to interview the store manager, whose activities caused a serious resonance in the microdistrict. On the “back porch” (a powerful fortress wall), the yellow-mouthed journalist was stopped by guards and, after negotiations with the boss, they were escorted to him. Looking intently into the eyes of an incomprehensible newcomer (who forever remembered this unblinking frostbitten look), Akhat Khafizovich calmly, although somewhat tongue-tied, explained that there was nothing interesting for the newspaper in store 41, and refused to answer other questions just as impassively.

In the same style, he collaborated with the press and in the future - the most minimum minimum information. Only at the very end of his biography, when he suddenly became a public figure (president of FC Shakhtar), did he make an attempt to get closer to the media. It was clear how difficult it was for him to communicate with journalists - for years the rooted rule “do not say too much” simply physically interfered with articulation. This Bragin style was subsequently inherited by the majority of Donetsk businessmen – until 2005 they were extremely reluctant to communicate with the press, even if, like Boris Kolesnikov, they could quite coherently and sometimes figuratively express their thoughts.

Greek as a victim

The death of Akhat Bratin was the culmination of the "gangster war" in Donetsk. Unlike the date of birth, the day of his death is well known - on October 15, 1995, the president of FC Shakhtar was blown up at the entrance to the club stadium, where the match with Tavriya Simferopol had just begun. The remains were collected in parts ...

Subsequently, the perpetrators were found - people from the group of Yevgeny Kushnir (from whom Bragin, it was alleged, took away profitable business) and a specially invited Moscow killer Vadim Bolotskikh. This was not the first attempt to remove the Greek - once he escaped literally by a miracle, hiding in the dovecote of his house in the village of Peski. Love for pigeons once almost brought him to the monastery, but once saved his life ...

Bragin was considered unsinkable. Long years he very skillfully distanced himself from everyone - from the "thieves in law", the old guard of the underworld, and from the "outlaws", the new criminals in the face of boxers, "jocks" and other specially trained guys. But historical practice in Donetsk has shown that the one who is able to stop the shooting is truly unsinkable. Bragin could not do this - or did not understand that this is the key to success.

Greek as a myth

For Donetsk, Alik Grek is more than a businessman, the president of FC Shakhtar, or even an outstanding criminal character. He, like Odin in the Elder Edda, underlies all modern Donetsk myths. Any local phenomenon can be traced back to it in one way or another. The reason is clear: in the early 90s, when the newest Donetsk history began to take shape, Grek was really able to take control of the main levers of managing people. Seemingly omnipotent "red directors" like Yefim Zvyagilsky or representatives of the official authorities could pretend as much as they liked that Grek's activities had nothing to do with them. Perhaps it was easier for them to perceive life that way.

In the Oktyabrsky settlement, the two-storey house with a mezzanine, built by Bragin for his family. Cautious people still prefer to bypass it on cloudy days. Just in case. There is just such a sign ...

1995, stood at the origins of the creation of the largest financial and industrial group in Ukraine, which after his death became the main part of Rinat Akhmetov's business conglomerate

Biography

Akhat Khafizovich Bragin was born into a Tatar family on the outskirts of Stalino, near the airport, in the Oktyabrsky village of the Kuibyshev region. Brother - Rashid Evgenievich Bragin (born December 28, 1955), deputy of the Donetsk Regional Council. As a child, Bragin played football and was fond of boxing. Together with him, Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Yanukovych started in the ring. In his youth, he was nicknamed " Alik the Greek". Started my labor activity from work as a butcher in the market near the Oktyabrskaya mine.

He extended his influence to dozens large enterprises region, including Iron and Steel Works Azovstal and the Khartsyzsk Pipe Plant, controlled significant financial and business interests of Donetsk, acquired the Shakhtar football club. Unofficially, he was considered the "master" of Donetsk.

Family

Akhat Bragin's daughter, Dilyara, born in 1985, died in 2009 from heart failure. Son Ravil, born in 1989, entrepreneur, lives in Donetsk.

Business A. Bragin

A. Bragin owned a number of organizations, among them:

Charity

When Alexander Gaidukov was killed by a stray bullet, his family received from A. Bragin an amount "tens of times more than the city authorities allocated."

Rinat Leonidovich Akhmetov believes that: Alexander Sergeevich really was a patriot of the Donetsk region and loved his city very much. He did not decide who was allowed into the region and who was not. It's just that people who came to him with bad intentions had no future here.

Memorable dates

• November 6, 1992 - the murder of Vladimir Goldin
• November 10, 1992 - Assassination of Janos Krantz
• 1993-1994 - a series of murders in 1993/1994.
• 1993-1994 - the first murders of the Nemsadze group
• March 19, 1994 - the first attempt on Akhat Bragin (aka Alik Grek)
• May 8, 1994 - the second attempt on Akhat Bragin (aka Alik Grek)
• September 2, 1994 - the murder of Eduard Braginsky (aka Chirik)
• November 30, 1994 - shootout on Shakhtostroiteley Boulevard
• April 12, 1995 - the murder of Yakov Bogdanov (Samson Sr.)
• August 10, 1995 - the murder of Artur Bogdanov (Samson Jr.)
• October 15, 1995 - the murder of Akhat Bragin (aka Alik Grek)

Bragin Akhat Khafizovich - Alik Grek

Among the famous personalities of Donetsk, one can single out Bragin Akhat Khafizovich or simply Alik Grek - a nickname that he received from his youth. This person is known as the president of the Shakhtar football club company until the fall of 1995. He was also lucky to start the origins of creating a powerful industrial and financial group in Ukraine, which, after an attempt on authority, became a possession.

Biography of Alik Grek

Bragin was born on the outskirts of Donetsk in a Tatar family. He was fond of boxing and football as a child. Nickname Alik Grek received from a young age. Started his career with normal work butcher in the city market of Donetsk. During the period of perestroika of the country, he began to engage in entrepreneurship, creating a certain group of like-minded people. Alik Grek also tried himself in the games market, on foreign exchange market. And around the end of the 80s, they began to talk about him as a major entrepreneur in Donetsk. At that time, he was investing in various corporations that organized the purchase of equipment from the West.

Givi Nemsadze (right)

In the period of the 90s, Akhat Khafizovich opened the sphere of security services for other entrepreneurs in the Donetsk region. At that time, there were such personalities in his circle: Jamalov, Fischuk, Dutko, Galushkin, Dolidze, Minailuk. Akhat Bragin developed connections with Moscow business people, and also directed all his efforts to work with Janos Krantsev, who later introduced him to Boris Kolesnikov, who later became a partner of the Donetsk authority. Akhat Khafizovich introduced into his group of entrepreneurs. He brought good income to Bragin Central Market city, but he extended his influence to other major points, such as the Khartsyzsk pipe plant, the Azovstal plant, and later the Shakhtar club. Due to the fact that Alik Grek controlled the business and financial interests of the Donetsk region, he was considered the "owner of the city."

Attempts on the authority of Alik

Like other famous personalities, Alik the Greek did not go unnoticed by ill-wishers who made more than one attempt on his person. In 1994, two unsuccessful attempts were made to deprive the authority of life: the first was made in the Sands of the Yasinovatsky district, where he often visited the dovecote, and the second took place in Donetsk using powerful weapons in the form of five grenade launchers. The last, third assassination attempt became fatal and was carried out in 1995 at the Shakhtar stadium.

The “Kushnirovites” took part in the commission of the fatal attempt, who were initially engaged in petty robberies and murders. The group headed by Yevgeny Kushnir and Anatoly Ryabin did not like the significant influence of Alik Grek in the entire region - these guys did not like his authority. But the conflict between them began back in the 90s, when Grek refused to cooperate with Ryabin, and later they accused Alik of being involved in the murder of Chirik, a Donetsk authority and friend of Kushnir.

The operation at the stadium was organized by all 16 members of the gang, 10 of whom were present directly at the scene of the assassination. To kill Alik Grek, the Kushnirites used a high-powered explosive device with a remote control, which was planted a few weeks before the explosion. At 17 pm Bragin, along with those accompanying him, went to the box and was killed by explosives. As a result of the prevailing panic, all members of the Kushnir gang successfully managed to escape in cars. After this incident, Kushnir's allies had to "lay low" not for a few months, but for a whole year, because. competitors in the industry and law enforcement agencies were actively investigating the murder of Alik Grek. In the future, the fate of Evgeny Kushnir and Anatoly Ryabin was not enviable - the first died in a pre-trial detention center a couple of years later, and the second was killed a year later.

Akhat Khafizovich Bragin was born into a Tatar family on the outskirts of Donetsk, near the airport, in the Oktyabrsky settlement of the Kuibyshev region. As a child, Bragin played football and was fond of boxing. Together with him, Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Yanukovych started in the ring.

In his youth, he received the nickname "Alik the Greek". He began his career as a butcher in the market near the Oktyabrskaya mine.

During the years of Perestroika, he took up entrepreneurship, gathered a group of like-minded people (Ryabin, Morozov, Bogdanov), was engaged in operations in the foreign exchange market and the games market. Bragin, thanks to the help of Shamil Ivankov, got a job as a director in Donetsk store No. 41. This a store was part of the structure of the Donetsk wholesale and retail trade base "Ukrtekstiltorg", which was led by Shamil.

In the late 80s, Bragin was already spoken of as the largest entrepreneur in Donetsk. He began investing in various companies that bought and brought computers and video recorders from the West, opened stores with cassettes and equipment.

When the OBKhSS detained the forwarding driver of the Ukrtekstiltorg base, he reported that the goods from the base, intended for shops, were sold at inflated prices in the markets of Donetsk and the region, and accused Akhat Bragin of forging documents. Bragin, having learned about the accusation, was forced to hide until the forwarding driver refused to testify against him.

Until the early 1990s, a group of like-minded people led by Bragin was engaged in providing security services to other entrepreneurs in the Donetsk region. His associates were such well-known entrepreneurs in Donetsk as Fischuk, Dolidze, Jamalov, Galushkin, Dutko, Minailuk. In 1991, Bragin was hired in the meat department of a grocery store located in the Adminsettlement of the city of Donetsk.

At this time, entrepreneurial ties were being developed with business people from Moscow. Ahat directed all his efforts to the joint entrepreneurial activity with businessman Yanosh Efimovich Krantz, whom he was introduced to by Boris Kolesnikov. Janos Krantz was a major businessman at that time, a partner of Evgeny Kushnir, one of the most famous Lugansk entrepreneurs. Upon arrival from Moldova, Krantz conducted his business in Lugansk, where he lived. In 1987, Krantz created in Lugansk one of the very first large cooperatives in the city for the production of consumer goods, but was forced to leave for Donetsk due to disagreements with businessman Valery Dobroslavsky. Until mid-1992, Bragin also had fruitful cooperation with other major entrepreneurs of the Donetsk region - Frolov, Mazurkevich, Dribny, Avtsin, Braginsky.

Bragin also introduced a group of entrepreneur Givi Nemsadze into his business.

Akhat's business was highly profitable from the Central Market of Donetsk, which was run by his business partner Kolesnikov.

Akhat Khafizovich settled in the Villa Lux mini-hotel on the territory of the Donetsk botanical garden.

He extended his influence to dozens of large enterprises in the region, including the Azovstal metallurgical plant and the Khartsyzsk pipe plant, controlled significant financial and business interests of Donetsk, and acquired the Shakhtar football club. Unofficially, he was considered the "master" of Donetsk.

In the middle of 1992, Akhat Khafizovich proposed to Janos Krantz to unite financially, to do business together. But Krantz refused, referring to the fact that a real businessman should be independent. Through his approach, by the end of 1992, Krantz had become one of the the richest people Ukraine. He owned several plants for the production of paints and varnishes in Donetsk and Lugansk, where new facilities were built, a significant share in the authorized capital of the then flourishing Donuglekombank, a dry cargo ship for 3 thousand tons with a crew of 16 people, who had the right to enter foreign ports, two stores , as well as one of the best cafes in Donetsk at that time "Chervoniy Kut" on Pushkin Boulevard. He also owned a rich office in the Kalininsky district of Donetsk.

But Kranz was turned against the Greek by Kushnir and Ryabin. Ahat decided to dot the i, otherwise the strife and conflict would have destroyed the group anyway, which the rest would not have failed to take advantage of. The prosecutor's office of Donetsk found out that one of the co-founders of the communal enterprise "Lux" is an official from the district executive committee. For this reason, the local authorities terminated the hotel lease agreement with Kranz and handed over the object to Akhaty Bragin. The Lux Hotel is a former government residence built in the late 80s on the day Mikhail Gorbachev arrived in Donetsk.

A quarrel between partners in October 1992 took place in the cafe "Chervony Kut" (Donetsk). After the hotel incident, Kranz stopped business relationship with Bragin. Akhat took over as CEO of Lux, the largest Donetsk company, and also engaged in publishing, financed the Donetsk News newspaper.

• On December 15, the Donetsk newspaper "Gorod" published an interview with the then head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Donetsk Arkady Boldovsky. The interview was called "Mafia showdown: the police understand." In it, the chief police officer of the city stated that several mafia clans operate in Donetsk, the most powerful of which is headed by a man named Alik Grek. CEO of the Lux company, Bragin wrote a letter to the editorial office of Gorod, in which he stated that he was undeservedly recorded as a mafia, thereby insulting his honor and dignity. He argued that such statements stab him business reputation. The next issue of the Gorod newspaper came out with a published letter from Bragin.

Bragin filed a civil lawsuit in court, demanding the protection of his honor and dignity in the form of a public apology from the Gorod newspaper that offended him. The case of Bragin was taken over by the chairman of the Voroshilovsky court, Viktor Ivashura. He made a decision: to oblige A. A. Boldovsky to make a public apology to Akhatia, and to publish a refutation to the Gorod newspaper on the same page on which the interview was published. The presidium of the regional court sent the case on the protection of the honor and dignity of Bragin for review.

• On August 4, 1995, a group of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the SBU arrived in Donetsk from Kyiv. A repeated search at the residence of Bragin, conducted with the sanction of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine V. Datsyuk, did not bring any results, and after three days of detention in the SBU pre-trial detention center, Bragin was released.

Assassination attempts

• On March 19, 1994, an unsuccessful assassination attempt was made on Akhat near his dovecote in the village of Peski, Yasinovatsky district.

• On May 8, 1994, the second unsuccessful attempt murders of Bragin - already in Donetsk itself, using five grenade launchers. This assassination attempt had no precedents on the territory of the CIS in terms of technique and audacity of execution. Police officers found on one of the streets a GAZ-51 truck with five charged grenade launchers fixed in the back. The weapon was supposed to be powered by a homemade radio-controlled device made from a children's toy.

Assassination in the Sands

A Russian citizen Vadim Bolotskikh, nicknamed Moskvich, according to one version, came to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office with a confession himself, according to another, he was detained by the Russian police in Moscow and secretly transferred to Ukraine. However, during the investigation, Bolotskikh insisted that he himself came to the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and wrote a confession.

It was after his surrender in the spring of 2000 and a similar appearance of another member of the gang - Sergei Kulev, who in the late 90s headed the Lugansk criminal group, that the investigation received new round. Many versions were confirmed and new facts about the crimes committed by the gang since the beginning of the 90s became known.

Reference: At the end of 1993-beginning of 1994, two residents of Donetsk - the former "thimbler" Yevgeny Kushnir (died in a pre-trial detention center in 1997, according to official version, from a heart attack) and small businessman Anatoly Ryabin (killed in 1996) organized a group of 16 people. The main "role" of the gang were robberies and murders, including by order. Soon, a certain Magamed Aliyev, nicknamed Maga, entered its leadership, who was responsible for "useful connections" with foreign countries: the gang received weapons from Chechnya and Yugoslavia. In rented apartments, the police found a large number of Kalashnikov assault rifles, various submachine guns, pistols, grenade launchers, grenades, explosives, etc. - it was possible to arm the regiment. Soon the gang became crowded within the controlled territory and its sphere of activity. However, the reason for starting a war with competitors was the murder of one of the authorities of Donetsk, nicknamed Chirik, who was friends with Kushnir. In retaliation, another criminal authority named Drum was shot, who was friends with the general director of the Lux company, Akhatem Bragin (Alik Grek). It was him, Grek, Ryabin and Kushnir who were accused of involvement in the murder of Chirik. But in fact, the "Kushnirovites" did not like the authority of Bragin and his influence in the region. The conflict, judging by the stories of Kushnir, began in 1990 - because of Alik's unwillingness to cooperate with Ryabin

Kushnir and Ryabin said that the people of Grek had killed their friend, the thief in law Chirik, Bolotsky told at the investigation. - Not only that, they supposedly took money from Chirik's widow and took his business into their own hands, thereby violating the laws of thieves. For this, they say, the Greek should be killed. Kushnir planned to lure Bragin to Drum's funeral and pay off there. But the idea failed. Then, having learned about Alik's addiction to pigeons and that he regularly visits his dovecote in the village of Peski, on the outskirts of Donetsk, Kushnir decides to remove Bragin there

The Donetsk press wrote that on March 19, 1994, having driven close to Grek's car, Kushnir's people began to shoot him with pistols with silencers. Bragin was saved by his beloved pigeons: Alik managed to hide from bullets in the dovecote and waited there until the attackers disappeared. On that day, two of Grek's guards were killed, and three of his "comrades-in-arms" were wounded.

Assassination near a meat processing plant

After the assassination attempt in Sands, Bragin became very cautious, moved out of the apartment with his family and settled in Lux, surrounding himself with strong guards. I began to ride only in an armored Mercedes. Therefore, for the next attempt, it was decided to use a more powerful weapon than machine guns. On May 8, 1994, a second attempt to assassinate Bragin took place in Donetsk - this time with the use of grenade launchers. But the kids told the police that a GAZ-51 truck with five loaded grenade launchers in the back was standing near the meat-packing plant, past which the armored Mercedes was supposed to pass. The weapon was supposed to be set in motion by a radio-controlled device, converted ... from a children's toy.

In parallel, a hunt was also carried out for one of Bragin's associates in business. Kushnir's group planted mine explosives in a car on the street along which the businessman was supposed to pass. When his car caught up with the "mined" car, an explosion thundered. However, the alleged victim was not injured, only the jeep was damaged.

Elimination of the Samsonov brothers

Kushnir, who by that time was already the sole leader of the gang, was also hindered by the authority nicknamed Samson (Bogdanov).

To develop plans to eliminate competitors, a Moskvich was needed - it was with Kushnir and Ryabin that he figured out how to more reliably eliminate the eldest of the Bogdanov brothers (Samson). However, he himself did not participate in the operation: on the eve of the assassination, he flew to Moscow.

And the plan was simple and daring - Samson at the same time dined at the Teatralnoe cafe on Artem Street. And on April 12, 1995, Kushnir, having received information that Samson was heading for lunch, gave the command to start the operation. A VAZ-2109 was stolen in advance, its numbers were replaced with fictitious ones. In this car, two members of the gang (who are no longer alive) drove up to the cafe and, seeing Samson on the threshold, shot him point-blank from pistols with silencers. At the same time, two accompanying Samson were also killed. Having driven a couple of kilometers, the "shooters" got into a car waiting for them, and the stolen Zhiguli were burned along with their weapons. It was the first of the gang's successful assassination attempts on competitors. But far from the last.

They decided to remove Samson Jr. when he leaves the entrance of the house on Ilyich Avenue in the morning. To do this, for several days someone from the gang was constantly on duty and reported on the radio about all the movements of Bogdanov. The assassination was scheduled for August 10, 1995. Kushnir learned that a taxi had been booked for the victim for a certain time, and ordered to act. Having let the taxi drive off, the bandits cut off his path and began to “water” Bogdanov Jr., who was sitting in the front seat, from machine guns. He died on the spot.

But the most important "enemy" for the gang remained Bragin, who, as Kushnir and Ryabin assumed, could not forgive them for attempting on himself and killing his people

Fatal assassination attempt at the Shakhtar stadium

Before the start of new hostilities, Kushnir in every possible way “pressed on the psyche” of Bragin’s business partners: they say, it’s not safe to deal with the Greek, you see, his people are being removed one by one. Along the way, rumors spread about the presence in the region of a group capable of resolving any issues, including the elimination of objectionable ones. Of course, this all-powerful grouping meant "Kushnirovtsy".

In the second half of 1995, Kushnir and Ryabin decided that the time had come to kill Grek. Knowing that Bragin, being the president and an ardent fan of the Shakhtar football club, does not miss a single match of his favorite team, Kushnir offered to organize the murder directly at the stadium. We decided to plant a bomb at the entrance to the guest stand. For this they needed Moskvich.

Later, the Russians raided the Moscow apartment of the Bolotskys. Several notebooks were found on him, in which he diligently kept notes on the explosive case.

For the operation, they purchased high-power plastic explosives for special purposes - with a fuse and remote control industrial production with four additional fuses and remote control in the form of a key fob. At first it was planned to plant a bomb in the guest box, but it was locked, and it was risky to break the locks. And in mid-September, members of the group A. Akulov and I. Filipenko (both are no longer alive) in a few nights hollowed out a niche in the concrete base at the entrance to the guest box, right under the wooden step, and laid about 5 kilograms of explosives by installing a remote fuse in Standby mode.

The recess for the bomb, which measured approximately 40x30x20 centimeters, was cemented by the "miners" so that nothing was noticeable. In addition, the place of laying was covered with a wooden step.

It was planned that Bragin would be killed at Shakhtar's match with some foreign team (with the Belgian Brugge). But for some reason he didn't come. Ryabin and Kushnir have already begun to worry, fearing that the batteries will run out and the device will not work.

Yes, as the experts explained, the batteries could well be discharged. In addition, both during and after the bombing in Donetsk it was damp, it was raining (this was confirmed to the investigation by the hydrometeorological center). A carefully prepared operation could fail due to some kind of batteries. Therefore, we decided to try again at the next game - such was the meeting between Shakhtar and Tavriya Simferopol on October 15, 1995

About 10 members of the gang took part in the operation at the stadium. The rest of the "Kushnirovites" dispersed along the route of Bragin and reported on his movement by radio.

I. Filipenko, wearing the uniform of a police captain, was in the immediate vicinity of the podium in order to set the bomb into action using a remote control. His candidacy was not chosen by chance: Filipenko, who worked for several years as a blaster in the mines, knew his business well. The imaginary captain at the stadium was covered by a real major of the criminal investigation department of one of the Donetsk regional police departments (he went missing).

The bomber pressed the button at about 5 p.m., when Bragin and his entourage were walking to the box. Together with Alik Grek, five were killed, three were seriously wounded. As the bandits expected, in the panic that arose at the stadium, all the participants in the terrorist attack managed to calmly “spread out” among the cars already waiting for them.

At the request of the Ukrainian side, the Israelis found this resident of Haifa (formerly from Donetsk), who told about Kushnir's visit to him. The guest boasted that he "flunked" the Greek, and demanded 300 thousand dollars from the owner, which he allegedly owed Chirik (who was a racketeer). The money, according to Kushnir, should go "to a good war" with the remaining competitors: he was very eager to take control of profitable areas economy and become "the most important" in the Donetsk region.

Kushnir's plans did not come true. Law enforcement agencies, and competitors in the "business", after the explosion at Shakhtar, forced the gang to go underground not for a month and a half, as Kushnir thought, but for a whole year. The exit of the “Kushnirites” “to the arena” became possible only in the spring of 1996

Investigation

Vyacheslav Sinenko

On December 10, 2009, the Donetsk Court of Appeal released Major Vyacheslav Sinenko of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who is suspected of murdering FC Shakhtar President Akhat Bragin in 1995, from custody.

The court decided to send the criminal case for additional investigation, and to change the measure of restraint for 60-year-old Sinenko to a written undertaking not to leave. He suffers from coronary heart disease and is partially paralyzed.

Immediately after the announcement of this decision, Sinenko was carried out from behind bars in his arms by his lawyer and a journalist from a local publication. After a stroke, Sinenko cannot move independently. For relatives and the accused himself, the decision of the court to release him was a complete surprise. For joy, Sinenko could not utter a word.

The Prosecutor General's Office considers Sinenko involved in the murder of the former owner of Shakhtar, Akhat Bragin.

Sinenko's lawyer stated that witnesses were pressured to say they did not see Sinenko at the concert. Sinenko believes that the case against him was fabricated by the former Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Gennady Vasiliev.

Reference: In October 1995, as a result of an explosion during a football match, the president of the football team and 5 more people from his inner circle, including SBU colonel Viktor Dvoinykh, were killed. In the spring of 2004, Sinenko was arrested in Greece, where he fled because of an attempt on his life. A year later, the suspect was extradited to Ukraine. On February 12, 2007, the Donetsk Court of Appeal convicted Sinenko of participating in the murder of Akhat Bragin and his bodyguards to life imprisonment. September 4, 2008 Supreme Court canceled this verdict as not motivated and not objective. The Donetsk Court of Appeal started trying Sinenko again on October 29, 2008 - already in the new composition of the panel of judges. In this criminal case, dozens of high-ranking officials were summoned to court as witnesses. Including People's Deputy Rinat Akhmetov. But they never showed up in court.