"Orekhovsk" killers Sasha Soldier and Lesha Soldier give new testimony on high-profile murders. New life behind bars for the legendary killer Lesha Soldier When Lesha Soldier is released from prison
Instagram Sherstobitova
The account, as indicated on the page, is maintained by his relatives and friends. In most of the photographs, the cheerful Sherstobitov poses with a Hollywood smile. There are many photographs here from the colony, as well as archival photos from the past of Lesha the Soldier.
There are also photographs of Alexey with his model-looking wife, Marina.
In the captions to the photo, Sherstobitov talks about life values, about the benefits of sports: “All the efforts of a prudent person should be directed not towards repairing and caulking his body, like a fragile and leaky boat, but towards arranging for himself a way of life in which the body would become upset as little as possible position, and therefore needed repair as little as possible.”
“Writing is not a craft or an occupation. Writing is a vocation” Konstantin Paustovsky Photo taken with the permission of the colony administration. #alekseysherstobitov #sherstobitov #leshasoldat #writer #books #vocation #lifestyle #alekseysherstobitov #alekseysherstobitov #leshasoldat #writer #books #vocation #lifestyle
The famous hired killer gave an interview to MK in St. Petersburg from a colony
“Killer No. 1” was the name given to Alexei Sherstobitov, nicknamed Lesha the Soldier. His targets were large businessmen, politicians, leaders of organized crime groups: Otari Kvantrishvili, Joseph Glotser, Grigory Gusyatinsky... For more than ten years he was invulnerable. But in 2008, Sherstobitov was arrested - for 12 proven murders, the jury sentenced him to 23 years in prison. Killing people professionally and being illegal for many years, today he is a public figure. Based on his “adventures,” the series “Gangs” was released. And Sherstobitov himself wrote an autobiographical book “The Liquidator”. A Lesha the Soldier fan club has been created on the Internet. Sherstobitov is now serving his sentence in a maximum security colony in Lipetsk. From there he answered questions from MK in St. Petersburg.” The interview was subject to prison censorship.
“I already had Berezovsky in my sights”
— Your image is mythologized, you have many fans. How do you yourself feel about this unexpected publicity?
— What was your first “order”?
“It was an attempt on the life of a retired SOBR officer who had become involved in crime and crossed the path of Sylvester (the leader of the Orekhovskaya criminal group that arose in Moscow in 1988. - Ed.). Thank God he survived.
— You were entrusted with the murder of the most protected persons. Which of them was the most difficult in terms of technical execution?
— Attempt on the life of the head of Russian Gold, Alexander Tarantsev. I thought through and calculated, it would seem, everything, but the attached rod turned out to be a millimeter higher than the mark on the trigger, as a result the shots were fired later. A stranger died.
The killer built a remote-controlled device with a Kalashnikov assault rifle in a VAZ-2104. The car was installed right at the exit from the Russian Gold office. Lesha the Soldier took aim at the businessman’s head and pressed the remote control button. The automatic fire rang out only 2 hours later, it killed the guard of “Russian Gold”, and injured two bystanders. Tarantsev survived.
But the most notorious was the murder of reputable businessman Otari Kvantrishvili. He was shot dead on April 5, 1994 near the Krasnopresnensky Baths in Moscow. Sherstobitov fired three bullets from an Anschutz carbine with an optical sight at the victim. For the murder of Kvantrishvili, Lesha the Soldier was awarded a VAZ-2107. It is noteworthy that no separate payments for work performed were provided for Sherstobitov in the group. He had a monthly salary of 2.5 thousand dollars.
— Why did the order to liquidate Boris Berezovsky fail?
“I was stopped a few seconds before the shot, I was already squeezing the trigger.” The “hang up” command was received from Sergei Ananyevsky, who in turn called, it should be noted, very timely, Sylvester. It later turned out that he called from his office in Lubyanka - draw your own conclusions. This was a period when I was still tightly controlled. Sylvester, Gusyatinsky, Ananyevsky were still alive, and the main massacre was just beginning.
— Do you believe that Berezovsky died a natural death?
“Such people rarely die by natural causes.” Or their lives end in painful illness.
— Could you ever be liquidated?
— A person who finds himself in the criminal world must understand that there are practically no standards of morality and morality there, there are almost no concepts of mercy, and the death of a person is often accepted the only way out even from a seemingly simple and worthless situation. Therefore, in essence, I made a personal contract with death as a “default” service, to be taken by it at any time suitable for it.
— Is it true that the detectives found you through your beloved girlfriend?
- Partially. Because everywhere and always there is a whole complex of reasons. I would not like to touch on this today, because it affects the fate of people dear to me.
In the early 2000s, MUR officers detained almost all the surviving participants and leaders of the Orekhovo-Medvedkovskaya organized crime group. During interrogations, ordinary militants spoke about a certain Lesha the Soldier, but no one knew his last name or what he looked like. In 2005, one of the members of the Kurgan organized crime group, who was serving a long sentence, unexpectedly called investigators and stated that a certain killer had once taken his girl away from him. Through her, the detectives found Sherstobitov.
— Did your family members guess what you were doing?
“Of course, my relatives and friends didn’t know a lot, besides, I first created legends, and then carefully and accurately supported them. Perhaps they guessed about some connection with crime, but it fit into what I was telling - they say, I ensure the safety of all kinds of structures. After the arrest, relations with no one were interrupted, although at first some were understandably frightened. You know, my friends are childhood friends, and it’s customary for us to support each other in difficult times.
Remain a man in the “skin of the devil”
— Is there a difference between the concepts of “killer” and “murderer”?
- I don’t share them. I won’t try to convince you if you call me a ghoul, a murderer, a killer... Now it’s important for me to continue to feel like a human being. In the “skin of the devil” this is incredibly difficult, especially in a “skin” dressed against one’s own will, which is as difficult to remove as to circumvent the rules of the criminal community.
At the trial, Sherstobitov fully admitted his guilt, but asked for leniency, saying that he refused to blow up 30 members of the Izmailovo group and saved the life of one businesswoman without eliminating her. “I couldn’t refuse to kill, I saved my life that way,” Sherstobitov said at the trial.
— Were you familiar with other killers? What was their fate?
— I personally knew at least two dozen. True, our methods were very different. Everyone's intelligence, abilities, characters, and aspirations were different. Most did not know how to shoot and were below average marksmen. Including Alexander Solonik. I state this both from the facts of execution and from the results of shooting at shooting ranges. It is even more scary when such people undertake to “perform” someone in a crowd of people. Now more than half of the killers I knew are dead. One is missing, one is on the run, the rest - some with gigantic sentences, some with life sentences. A few are free, but even they see their necks in a noose.
— How did you justify your “work” of liquidating people?
- At first he justified it by hopelessness. Then hopelessness and the fact that each of them chose their own path, like me, knowing that death is the companion of everyone who takes this road. Sometimes he deceived himself, hoping that he was punishing evil. Standing at the head of our Orekhovo-Medvedkov brigade, Gusyatinsky (later Sherstobitov would shoot his boss in Kyiv with a sniper rifle when he approached the window of a hotel room. - Ed.) and Pylev put death on stream. Over time, I became part of the mechanism of this guillotine, but nevertheless I continued, already understanding that I needed to escape! But where can I get away from myself, how to wash my hands, which are up to the elbows in blood, especially with a touch of children’s blood, albeit due to a wild coincidence of circumstances, innocent victim.
It's about about a little girl who accidentally died during an attempt on the life of thief in law Andrei Isaev, nicknamed Painted. Sherstobitov planted a car filled with explosives near his house on Osenny Boulevard in Moscow. When the thief left, the killer pressed the button remote control. Isaev himself was wounded, but survived, the girl died.
But a real abyss opened up at the Vvedenskoye cemetery in Moscow, where I was supposed to initiate an explosive device (Sherstobitov did not fulfill the order to eliminate several people. - Ed.). If this happened, there would be no return! But if before that day I tried to delay, postpone the order, still sometimes fulfilling the assignment, then after that I realized that I was no longer able to step over myself.
— You say that you have repented of the murders you committed. When did repentance come?
- Repentance does not happen suddenly, but once it comes, it does not always remain! This is a constant process - it is a struggle with oneself, with that part of oneself that seeks to justify, shift some of the blame onto someone, condemn another, in order to look brighter. You need to constantly rise to repentance; this process is never-ending, and with every step it becomes more difficult.
"Preparing for God's Judgment"
— What does your life consist of now? What is the daily routine in the colony?
“It takes a lot of time and effort to remain at least at the same intellectual and physical level. Working on books, scripts, articles is permitted by law, and since today I am not violating it, I am met with understanding from the administration. And, of course, there is the church, without which my life today is unthinkable. With prayer, everything is simple - it is the answer to any question. There is only one difficulty: do not stop trusting in the will of God.
— How often do you see your family?
“I am entitled to visits, like any other convict, three times a year; three more incentive visits are possible.” Everyone must be responsible for their deeds, and let it be better here than later - on Last Judgment.
-Are you afraid of death?
— Death is an inevitable necessity, it’s normal not to want it, but it’s funny to be afraid of it. And then, I believe that it is just a “transition from the assumed to the obvious.” If we really talk about fears, then I worry about my family and friends who may suffer from my shadow.
- When will you be free?
A hired killer nicknamed Lyosha the Soldier eliminated his victims for a regular salary
“Killer No. 1” - this is how Alexey SHERSTOBITOV, nicknamed Lesha the Soldier, was considered. His crimes caused shock and awe for many years. His targets were businessmen, politicians, leaders of organized crime groups: Otari KVANTRISHVILI, Grigory GUSYATINSKY, Joseph GLOTSER, Alexander TARANTSEV... Lesha the Soldier also had an order for the liquidation of Boris BEREZOVSKY.
The prisoner sentenced to 23 years gave a frank interview to our correspondent for the first time.
- You recently published the book “Liquidator”. What did they want to say with it?
The meaning of the book was laid down in the working, initial title - “Anabasis to Repentance”. This can also be seen in the subtitle of the already printed publication - “Confession legendary killer" In other words, this is the path through internal resistance, in battles with one’s pride, to the recognition of what has been done and the repentance of a fallen and spiritually lost person.
In Orthodoxy, the concept of “repentance” also means the opposite of what was done. My book is precisely such an action, designed to debunk all the romanticism of such a life, to remove the wrapping of excuses for the events of that time. But at the same time, highlight the reasons that led young people like me, some to violence, some to prison, and some to unknown death.
Remove the oligarch
In your book you describe how Berezovsky should have been killed. Do you regret not pulling the trigger at that fateful moment?
Then Berezovsky split seconds separated from death. It is impossible to say whether it would have been better or worse if the bullet had reached its target. It’s not for me to judge his actions, although it is clear who he was for Russia. God will be his judge. I don't regret it!
- But why was it not possible to bring the matter to an end in the assassination attempt on Berezovsky?
Then the task was set by Sylvester (the leader of the Orekhovskaya organized crime group Sergei Timofeev. -B.K.). He was also the mastermind behind the murder. Otari Kvantrishvili. Solved a multimillion-dollar task: taking control of the Tuapse Oil Refinery. And, as with the assassination attempt on Otari, the execution of the assassination attempt on BAB was supervised by Kultik ( Sergey Ananyevsky, the head of the Russian Powerlifting Federation at that time and at the same time the second person in the Orekhovo-Medvedkovskaya organized crime group. - B.K.) And Grigory Gusyatinsky- “foreman” of the Medvedkovskys, a former KGB officer nicknamed Grisha Severny. He persuaded us to keep in touch via walkie-talkie. I am categorically against polluting the airwaves in such situations. But I had to give in.
At the very last moment the airwaves exploded with screams. And with full concentration on the target before the shot, third-party senses are almost turned off. I barely heard this swearing and realized that the operation had been suspended literally a split second before the shot.
- Does it look like interference from some influential forces?
Gusyatinsky sometimes asked to do something for Sylvester, and that was the case that time too. I expressed to him my dissatisfaction with the failed case. But he stated that the order to stop the operation was given by Sylvester himself from someone’s office in Lubyanka. Just think about it: who fought with whom, at whose expense, for the sake of whose interests? And who ultimately won. Or lost. Think at your leisure why, three days before the shots at the Krasnopresnensky baths, Kvantrishvili was under surveillance by one of the departments of the same structure, and he was shot without interference.
- In “Liquidator” you name the owner of “Russian Gold” Alexander Tarantsev as the orderer of a number of murders. Including the owner of the Dolls club, Joseph Glotser. Aren't you afraid of libel charges? Or something even worse?I'm not afraid of the truth! The investigators who led our case have this information better than me. All these years, I, like any of our organized crime groups, knew who this man was. However, I am sure that the law applies differently to people like him than to ordinary citizens. Mister Tarantsev- is no exception to the businessmen who started in the early 90s. But compared to some of the current people who are free and boldly flashing on the silver screen, he is just a child! I wrote about him in the book for only one reason - Alexander Petrovich’s company was a very large sector of the economy of our “trade union”. A lot of things revolved around his company. Without him, everything said would be incomplete and would be perceived as untruthful. And there is not a word of lies in this book!
Some politicians are worse than bandits
If the 90s were transported to our time? Imagine you received an order for a famous politician or businessman. Let's say Chubais.
Well, if you look at it from the perspective of that time... Big names, then, will be looked for seriously. Although there are always two sides. One will benefit from this, the other will lose. I don’t like politics; there is no place for morality in it: blackmail, political destruction of the enemy, frame-ups. But people also choose this path themselves. To be honest, sir Nemtsov I don’t perceive him as an oppositionist. He, like Chubais, one of those who handed us over to the West and actually unleashed civil war, to which my book is dedicated. I remember well what these young reformers undertook in the 90s and how it all ended. I think that then I would not have shot at a politician, although time has shown that for the most part they are worse than those for whose death I was convicted.
- In your opinion, is a killer a profession? Or a way of life? Or maybe this is fate?Here the possible indignation of the readers of your newspaper immediately comes to mind: “We’ve made it, they’re interviewing a killer! As if there is no one more worthy! And they also ask you to tell us about your profession!” Maybe they're right. But how then can we solve this problem if we don’t talk about it?
Although “killer” is translated from English as “killer,” I have never been a killer! A killer - definitely! Because the killer receives a large fee for carrying out the order, but I did not receive money for the elimination, because I was on a permanent salary. The amount varied depending on the financial condition of the “trade union”. It came out to two thousand dollars a month, then it became five. At the same time, I have always been mainly engaged in the extraction of information - wiretapping phones, intercepting mobile and paging communications, surveillance, search, analysis. This was precisely what was included in my main responsibilities for almost a decade and a half, and it was thanks to my main activity that the MUR investigators were so pleased with a part of the archive with calculations on several groups. By the way, they turned out to be more accurate and more detailed than those they had.
I knew two dozen people who were involved in murders professionally. Most of them are already dead, almost all of them are alive, except for two who are missing. This, by the way, indicates that the authorities have people who know how to fight crime. I think I won’t reveal the secret if I say that psychologists didn’t really work with any of them. Perhaps at the Serbsky Institute at the commission for about five minutes, and then for the sake of formality. In all the works where I read about the psychology of such a “profession,” I found only descriptions of what killers should be like. That is, something close to a certain standard. Everyone I met was no more than 50 percent similar to what was described. Let me not say that they were not much alike. Of course, the reasons why they took up their craft are far from the same. Maybe this will be frank: the vast majority of them had almost nothing to do with either special structures or the army. Some didn't even serve.Let me emphasize that a person who becomes a killer is definitely destined for a hole in the forest or a prison.
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In the photo he (on the right) is posing with Andrei PYLEV against the backdrop of Spanish beauty (1995) |
- How long do you have left to sit?
I was arrested on February 2, 2006. For Americans, it's Groundhog Day. Here I'm talking more about the film. Many in prison compare being there precisely with the misfortune that befell the main character: every day is like the previous one... So, I was arrested in 2006, and release, if the Lord gives, in 2029. The main thing is to spend every day, every hour usefully, trying to fix at least something.
REFERENCE
* Alexey SHERSTOBITOV born in 1967 in Moscow.
* Hereditary officer, holder of the Order “For Personal Courage”.
* Was a member of a group of former employees of the GRU, KGB, Ministry of Internal Affairs as part of the Orekhovskaya and Medvedkovskaya organized crime groups, designed to collect, process and use information, as well as to physically eliminate special complexity.
* He has 12 proven murders and attempts.