Meduza’s daily newsletter: Wednesday, September 18, 2024 Corporate intrigue turns to deadly skirmish at ‘the Russian Amazon,’ prosecutors work to overturn rehabilitations of Soviet repression victims, and Zelensky heads to Harris and Trump

🚨 Gunfire breaks out in Moscow as Wildberries CEO claims husband led raid attempt on company’s central office

At least two people were killed in a shooting in Moscow on Wednesday after a group reportedly led by businessman Vladislav Bakalchuk tried to break into the main headquarters of Wildberries, the online retailer that his wife founded. The incident comes just two months after Tatyana Bakalchuk announced that the couple were in the process of divorcing amid a merger between Wildberries and the advertising operator Russ Group, which Vladislav opposed. At least one of the men involved in the attempted break-in reportedly belongs to the mixed martial arts club founded by Chechnya Governor Ramzan Kadyrov, who blasted the merger alongside Vladislav Bakalchuk in a video posted shortly before Tatyana’s divorce announcement.

What’s the Kadyrov regime’s role in this mess?

In late July, Ramzan Kadyrov shared a video on his Telegram channel where he and Vladislav Bakalchuk sat together and discussed the latter’s divorce and the Wildberries-Russ merger. Kadyrov called the corporate consolidation an “illegal takeover” and vowed to reunite the Bakalchuks, implying that the persons “stealing” the Wildberries business had essentially kidnapped Tatyana Bakalchuk. Kadyrov promised to “bring the matter to the state’s leadership” and grumbled several veiled threats, saying he would task his men with resolving the dispute.

Vladislav Bakalchuk apparently brought some of these trained fighters to the Wildberries office on September 18. Anas Elmurzaev, a former state prosecutor in Chechnya, also accompanied him. (Elmurzaev told journalists at Agentstvo Media that he’s currently acting as Mr. Bakalchuk’s attorney.) In early August, Elmurzaev wrote on his Telegram channel (where he regularly posts effusive praise for Kadyrov) that he’d appealed on Vladislav Bakalchuk’s behalf to the heads of Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry and Prosecutor General’s Office, alleging that Russ Outdoor CEO Robert Mirzoyan has swindled Tatyana Bakalchuk out of her business.

Theories about why Tatyana Bakalchuk would take this ‘bad deal’ merger

In an interview with RBC on August 9, Mirzoyan and Tatyana Bakalchuk fielded questions about the Wildberries-Russ merger. When asked about Suleyman Kerimov’s alleged role in the deal (according to rumors, the oligarch secretly controls Russ Group), Mirzoyan called him a “friend” of the company but denied that he has any direct relationship with Russ or the merged business. Mrs. Bakalchuk said she’d never met Kerimov in person.

Why would a multi-billionaire need help from someone like Kerimov? As described in Meduza’s report, one theory argues that she needed someone with “administrative resources” to escape the consequences of a major fire at a Wildberries warehouse in St. Petersburg. After the blaze, federal investigators opened a case against unidentified Wildberries executives on felony charges of “abuse of office.” (Officials have reported no developments in this case.)

Much of the speculation surrounding Tatyana Bakalchuk, her business decisions, and her divorce involve rumors about her own romantic, emotional life — perhaps a consequence of sexist assumptions about Russia’s wealthiest woman. Sources told TV Rain journalist Yulia Taratuta that “Suleyman Kerimov literally charmed Tatyana Bakalchuk” by allegedly introducing her to Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff and then to the president himself. Sources told Forbes Russia that she literally fell in love with Kerimov.

A week before the RBC interview, investigative journalists at The Dossier Center reported on a private meeting in early July between Tatyana Bakalchuk, Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, and other senior cabinet officials. According to the write-up notes shared with The Dossier Center, the government agreed to coordinate efforts to make Wildberries more competitive across the Eurasian Economic Union by expanding its access to local warehouses. Sources told the investigative outlet that this expansion in Russia’s periphery — not rumors about a grand scheme to put Wildberries on the same level as American and Chinese rivals in the Global South — was the plan’s key component. 

Sources told RBC that the Wildberries-Russ merger, backed by the Kremlin, is also meant to build the foundation for an international system for ruble-based payments to rival the traditional SWIFT banking system, though the company’s more immediate use to Russian officials is likely its continued services as a means of circumventing economic sanctions, particularly when it comes to consumer electronics.

Mainstream news coverage (or lack thereof)

On Wednesday, national television networks totally ignored the Wildberries shootout story, according to monitors at The Insider. Not a single talk show or news broadcaster covered the story, despite two fatalities and the involvement of one of Russia’s most visible companies. Meanwhile, the nation’s print media reported on the shootout extensively, albeit without any mention of Ramzan Kadyrov or the direct involvement of individuals from Chechnya with connections to the governor.

We got The Beet. Don’t miss Meduza’s weekly newsletter (separate from the one you’re reading here)!

Meduza’s feature reporting

• 🪖 Russian police are joining the army for higher pay, leaving behind overworked colleagues who are more likely to resort to torture
• 🪖 Does Putin’s order to increase the Russian army by 180,000 soldiers mean a new wave of mobilization is coming?

The news in brief

• 👾 A cybersecurity expert reportedly found a vulnerability in Russia’s electronic conscription summons database that allows anybody with someone’s Gosuslugi ID to grab their personal data (home addresses, passport numbers, tax IDs, pension accounts, insurance numbers, and more), though the Digital Development Ministry denies any such vulnerability
• ⚖️ Russia’s Prosecutor General has reviewed more than 14,000 rehabilitations of political repression victims and managed to overturn more than 4,000 of these decisions, restoring Soviet-era verdicts against supposed traitors during World War II (the cases largely involve alleged collaborators with Nazi occupation forces)
• 🇬🇧 Britain’s Foreign Office summoned Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin on Wednesday to condemn “the unprecedented and unjustified public campaign of aggression by Russia against the U.K.” (last week, Moscow stripped six British diplomats of accreditation and accused them of espionage)
• 🇺🇸 Ukrainian President Zelensky reportedly plans to meet with America’s two top presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, during a visit to the United States next week

No country can be free without independent media. In January 2023, the Russian authorities outlawed Meduza, banning our work in the country our colleagues call home. Just supporting Meduza carries the risk of criminal prosecution for Russian nationals, which is why we’re turning to our international audience for help. Your assistance makes it possible for thousands of people in Russia to read Meduza and stay informed. Consider a small but recurring contribution to provide the most effective support. Donate here.