Promotion is possible

Former GRU officer Yuri Kolchin, found guilty of organizing the assassination attempt on Duma deputy Galina Starovoitova, is ready to name the person who ordered the murder in exchange for ensuring the safety of his family and including him in the witness protection program. In 2005, Kolchin was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

His lawyer Pavel Zhichkin announced his decision to make a deal with justice. The lawyer added that former Duma deputy from the LDPR Mikhail Glushchenko, whose name was still associated with the murder of Starovoitova, has nothing to do with this crime. Zhichkin also said that so far the investigative authorities have not shown due interest in his client’s statement. Meanwhile, Kolchin claims that he himself is not involved in the murder of Starovoitova. In August 2009, the preliminary investigation into the murder of a deputy on November 20, 1998 was resumed. Starovoitova’s assistant Ruslan Linkov, who was wounded during the assassination attempt, reported that the decision to resume the investigation was made after the murdered woman’s sister Olga Starovoitova and he sent an appeal addressed to President Dmitry Medvedev - in turn, after it became known about Glushchenko’s arrest in another case. Another Starovoytova assistant, lawyer Pyotr Kucherenko, told Interfax on November 19 that Kolchin’s statement was “a signal from Glushchenko to his high-ranking patron. The authoritative ex-deputy shows that he has complete control over the members of his group, and makes it clear that he needs to be pulled out.” At the same time, Kucherenko emphasized that if an “accident” does not happen to Kolchin or Glushchenko, then “today we are closer than ever to solving the crime.” Glushchenko’s name is associated with the informal Tambov financial and industrial community in St. Petersburg. They ran for the Duma in the city and, according to Linkov, got there illegally. Starovoitova openly opposed them. Other former LDPR deputies, allegedly associated with the Tambov group, are no longer alive: Mikhail Monastyrsky was hit by a car in Switzerland, and Vyacheslav Shevchenko, according to investigators, was ordered by Glushchenko himself. Shevchenko is believed to have written a note before his death in which he named Starovoitova as the mastermind behind the murder.