Vladislav Bakalchuk, the ex-husband of Wildberries founder Tatiana Bakalchuk, was arrested on Thursday following a deadly shootout at the online retailer’s headquarters in Moscow the previous day, according to his lawyers.
The shooting, which occurred just a short distance from the Kremlin, resulted in the deaths of two security guards and injuries to several others, including two law enforcement officers. Federal investigators have since opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
Tatiana Bakalchuk has accused her ex-husband Vladislav of attempting a failed takeover of the company after he publicly opposed Wildberries’ merger with the advertising firm Russ Group. The merger aims to create a new digital trading platform under Kremlin oversight. Vladislav, who holds a minor stake in Wildberries, labeled the merger a hostile takeover and reportedly sought support from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. On Wednesday, he led a group of men to Wildberries’ headquarters in Moscow, ostensibly to discuss halting “the construction of a warehouse.”
Tatiana denied his claims, and Wildberries stated that Vladislav’s group attempted to forcibly enter the building before opening fire on the security guards. Police arrested around 30 individuals following the shootout.
On Thursday, Vladislav’s lawyers revealed that he has been charged with multiple offenses, including murder, attempted murder, vigilantism, and an attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer. His legal team called the charges an “unprecedented violation” of his rights, alleging that the office security staff fired first. They also claimed investigators were pressuring Vladislav’s defense, though they did not provide specifics.
In a new twist, Vladislav’s legal team implicated billionaire senator Suleiman Kerimov as a major figure behind Wildberries’ merger with Russ Group. While Kerimov has been linked to Russ Group in media reports, the company’s CEO, Robert Mirzoyan, described Kerimov as merely a “friend” with no formal ties to the merger.
After seeking support from Kadyrov in July, the Chechen leader accused “well-known Caucasians” of coercing Tatiana into the merger, a comment widely interpreted as a reference to Kerimov, who hails from Dagestan in the North Caucasus.
Business media have described the Wildberries-Russ Group deal as “unusual” given the disparity between the two companies. Wildberries is significantly larger, with revenues of 538.7 billion rubles ($2.7 billion) last year, compared to Russ Group’s 27.9 billion rubles ($300 million). The independent outlet The Bell speculated that the merger might be part of Russia’s wartime redistribution of assets, benefiting Kremlin-connected business figures.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
