The husband of the richest woman in Russia, Vladislav Bakalchuk, was arrested and charged with murder on Thursday after a shootout that killed two people, including a security guard, at the headquarters of the couple’s retail company in Moscow, his lawyers said.
The defendant was charged with murder, attempted murder, assault of a law enforcement officer, and vigilantism, according to CBS News.
On Wednesday, Moscow police responded to Wildberries, the office of the online retail giant, after a violent dispute erupted over the company's merger. Vladislav’s estranged wife and billionaire tycoon, Tatyana Bakalchuk, who filed for divorce during the summer, had initiated a merger between her company Wildberries and Russ Group, an advertising agency, to form a company named RVB. The move made Tatyana Bakalchuk, who owned ninety-nine percent of Wildberries, become a 65 percent shareholder of RVB.
After Vladislav arrived with some colleagues at the office building, shots soon rang out. The defendant claimed he was there for a pre-arranged meeting, but his wife denied it and told authorities her husband had been there to seize the office.
“Vladislav, what are you doing? How will you look into the eyes of your parents and our children? How could you bring the situation to such absurdity?” said Tatyana Bakalchuk, reported Reuters.
The Kremlin reported Vladimir Putin approved the merger, but the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov disapproved of it and called it an asset grab.
Tatyana Bakalchuk founded Wildberries in 2004 and is ranked the 40th richest woman in the world. Before the merger, Vladislav owed a one-percent stake in Wildberries.
Leave a Reply