| The investigation into the case of Vyacheslav Ivankov is nearing its end The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow extended the detention of thief in law Vyacheslav Ivankov, nicknamed Yaponchik, who is accused of murdering two Turkish citizens in 1992. He will remain in prison until at least February 17, 2005, but investigators plan to finish investigating his case even earlier. At the same time, it became known who actually testified against the thief in law, thanks to which Yaponchik, who was deported from the United States, was able to be brought to justice. The witnesses were three dancers from Kyrgyzstan who accompanied the Turks at the time of the murder. They are now working in the United Arab Emirates.
The events that formed the basis of the charges brought against Ivankov, according to the Moscow Prosecutor's Office, looked like this. On February 29, 1992, he, together with his old friend, also a thief in law Vyacheslav Sliva, and some still unidentified person, came to the Fidan restaurant on Ryazansky Prospekt. When they were about to leave, the cloakroom attendant decided to serve the three Turkish merchants first. Ivankov did not like this, and the quarrel ended with the thief in law taking out a revolver and opening fire on the foreigners. Two of them died, and one was saved by doctors. Ivankov himself, just a month after the events in Fidan, flew to the United States, where he remained until recently - in 1997, an American court sentenced him to nine years and seven months in prison for extorting money from entrepreneurs associated with Chara Bank. Back in 1992, the Moscow prosecutor's office had information that it was Ivankov who killed Turkish citizens. However, the prospects for the investigation remained unclear. Sliwa died in 2000 from cancer without giving any testimony.
However, when Yaponchik was deported from the United States to Russia in July of this year, he was immediately arrested for the murder of Turks. Moreover, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office said that investigators had enough evidence of the thief in law’s guilt, but they refused to disclose which ones. Yesterday, a Vremya Novostei correspondent managed to find out exactly what arguments the prosecutors have in their hands.
“There were three foreigners from Kyrgyzstan in the restaurant with the foreigners,” said our source close to Ivankov. — One has a Ukrainian surname, the other two have Kyrgyz surnames. They are designated everywhere as ballerinas. Immediately after the execution, these girls ran away. The police found them in the same 1992, and the girls described in detail the shooter, whose verbal portrait exactly matches Jap. At the end of 1999, ballerinas identified Ivankov as the killer of the Turks from a photograph, and soon after he was put on the wanted list. The investigation does not have the weapon used to commit the crime; they only have testimony from these girls, but they cannot be found. They are now working as dancers in the UAE and clearly have no intention of returning to Russia. Ivankov’s detention period was extended until February 17, but investigators are already saying that they will finish the investigation of this criminal case on February 5.” Alexander SHVAREV |
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