How they were taken

Novaya Gazeta continues to investigate the murder of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, of which N. Tikhonov and E. Khasis are accused

Tikhonov, as Novaya Gazeta managed to find out, opened the door himself. Maybe he simply automatically responded to the call, because he was standing in the hallway and was just about to attend the next action. Apparently, a well-trained militant, specially ...

Tikhonov, as Novaya Gazeta managed to find out, opened the door himself. Maybe he simply automatically responded to the call, because he was standing in the hallway and was just about to attend the next action. Apparently, a well-trained militant who specially studied forensic science, investigative work, the theory and practice of secret organizations from assassins and people's will to Hussein's militants, it seemed that it was impossible to figure him out. That he mastered all the subtleties of conspiracy. There were grounds for such assumptions: Tikhonov was on the federal wanted list for several years on suspicion of the murder of anti-fascist Ryukhin, but he lived in Moscow in rented apartments or with friends and even calmly crossed the Russian border - went to Ukraine, to local comrades-in-arms in the struggle.

In general, the killer probably believed that on January 19, 2009, on Prechistenka, by shooting lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in the back of the head, he committed an ideal crime that no one could solve. In advance, the locations of video cameras on the street and in the subway were studied, it was known that these video cameras give a very bad picture: according to the documents, high-quality equipment was installed, in reality - shit. Unlike the killers, for example, the banker Kozlov, he knew that it was impossible to take mobile phones with him, because billing would allow you to establish: the location of a person at one time or another, as well as who he called and where was the one with whom the meeting took place. conversation.

However, in the stairwell, Tikhonov ran into operatives who presented him with a search warrant for the apartment, in which, besides him, Yevgenia Khasis also lived.

The operatives knew who they were going to (as a result of long and very subtle operational measures, the identity of the suspects and their secret address were established), so Tikhonov’s attempt to get his hand somewhere in the armpit, allegedly for documents, failed. Rolled up instantly. And not in vain.

Tikhonov gathered for an evening walk with trunks. I emphasize that this weapon was not found in the apartment - but on Tikhonov. That is why it can be assumed that on the night of November 3rd to 4th, 2009, on the eve of National Unity Day, which became the All-Russian day of the fascist, Tikhonov and Khasis, who left the apartment after him, were planning some kind of military operation. And delay the operatives for a few minutes ...

The search continued until the morning - more than 10 hours. That is how long it took forensic experts to describe the crazy amount of weapons and ammunition that was found in the possession of historian Nikita Tikhonov and journalist Evgenia Khasis. And, apparently, some of these barrels have already fired.

Then, of course, comments of a known nature appeared. Of course, the police practice of foundling trunks is widely applicable in Russia. But - you can throw a barrel and cartridges, you can - two barrels, it is impossible to throw a whole arsenal.

Many other interesting things were found during the search. For example, fake documents with a photograph of Tikhonov, made not just in good printing, but in an impeccably professional one. (This was discussed at the court, which extended the term of detention for the detainees.)

On the same night, from November 3rd to 4th, the first interrogations took place in the building of the Investigative Committee. Their result became known a few days later: Nikita Tikhonov confessed to the murder of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova. He did not deny this even in the courtroom, when a measure of restraint was chosen for him - arrest. Khasis chose a different tactic of behavior during the investigation, implementing the recommendations described in special manuals that are posted on the websites of Nazi militants - how to play the fool.

After the arrest

People in masks were led along the corridors of the Basmanny Court. It was planned that only the judge would see their faces. Of course, after some time everything would be revealed, but the investigators needed to win a few days to consolidate the evidence.

It was these hats-masks, pulled backwards over the faces of the suspects, that later caused a mass hysteria among the supporters of the detained militants. Even some pickets were held at the office of the commissioner for human rights. But, firstly, to cover the faces of those arrested is a generally accepted world practice (remember the footage with Basque terrorists or Italian mafiosi): accomplices have not yet been detained, witnesses may be found, an identikit cannot be devalued before the trial - but you never know the reasons. Secondly, the fact that the judge spoke with people in masks, even in the conditions of the Russian judicial system, can only be believed by very narrow-minded people ... As soon as the press left the courtroom, the masks were removed. There were no signs of beatings on the faces, no statements about physical, psychological or any other pressure from the suspects were received by the judge. After the trial, all this will be found in the case file.

... At the end of December 2009, the court extended Tikhonov and Khasis' detention for another three months, until April 19. The preliminary investigation continues: they are looking for accomplices and fixing evidence of the guilt of the arrested.

I will dwell on the last circumstance. This is important because Nikita Tikhonov expectedly retracted his confession to the double murder in January. Why he confessed earlier - he explained unoriginally: they beat him, psychologically pressured him, promising to put Yevgenia Khasis in a male cell. True, all this argumentation was thrown into the media field long before the trial: first by Mironov Jr., who was suspected of attempting to assassinate Chubais, and then by other supporters and friends of Tikhonov, interviews with which were actively published by some central newspapers. These versions became working after Tikhonov's lawyers and relatives recommended that he change his defense tactics.

As you know, confessions, from the point of view of normal legal proceedings, are not the main evidence. If, apart from them, the investigation has nothing, in theory, the criminal case can be sent to the scrap. All these confessions are more likely to be needed by the accused themselves, so that the jury can find at least something to mitigate the sentence ...

So. In the case of the murder of Markelov and Baburova, there is a whole range of objective evidence. Of course, I won’t list them - we’ll wait for the court. Moreover, the investigation categorically refuses any comments even about the already known circumstances of the case.

Who are they

A few days after the murder, Novaya Gazeta, where Nastya Baburova worked, received an email: “On January 19, the odious enemies of the Russian nation Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova were destroyed in the center of Moscow. Last year's death of anti-fascist leader Fyodor Filatov and this January action are our last warning to all anti-Russian human rights activists, journalists, anti-fascists, cops and officials. <…> Otherwise, even more heads will fly. From now on, none of the enemies of the Russian nation is safe. And the signature is the Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists.

By this time, almost nothing was known about BORN - only rumors and obscure references on fascist sites. Moreover, there was a version: such an organization does not exist in principle, it’s just that the Nazis hang all the most serious crimes on an invented brand - both an element of conspiracy and PR for the movement. But the point here is not in the name - BORN or not BORN, especially since the Nazis change their brands regularly.

Based on what Novaya Gazeta has learned, it makes sense to reconsider ideas about the fascist underground and destroy the myths that have been established in the public mind.

The first myth is that Russian fascists are shaved-headed juvenile PET idiots in shit-hounds and bomber jackets who attack guest workers. There are such. But these are just shaved bald juvenile fools: without a special ideology, without goals and without brains. They are essentially the same ordinary gopniks. Among the real fascist underground workers, the majority are young (under 30) people with a higher, usually humanitarian, education: a lot of journalists (like Khasis), historians (like Tikhonov), successful political PR people, political scientists, sociologists ... There are also those who had experience fighting in Chechnya. They study the experience of underground organizations of the past (the structure, methods of conspiracy, the technology of committing terrorist acts), forensics, knives and firearms, they are intensively engaged in special physical training ... They have no problems with hormones and bad education, they know what they are doing and why.

Myth second . Russian fascists are obsessed with Orthodoxy and Russophilia, and the main enemy for them is a foreigner who adheres to a different faith. In fact, among the Russian fascists you can find Georgians, Tatars, and Jews. In fact, Orthodoxy is significant among them, but no less than paganism. (Tikhonov, for example, is a Rodnover.) In fact, the murders of "animals" (that is, Africans, Caucasians, Central Asians - in their terminology) are either a PR campaign for them or a way to attract supporters from among those very young fools. "Animals" are not people, their life, like death, does not matter to achieve the real goal - the creation of their own state and their own society, consisting of superhumans.

illustration for this. Last week, the fascist organization NW-WP posted on the Internet a video of the murder of a citizen of Ghana in St. Petersburg, which was committed on December 25, 2009. The man in the mask voices the following text: “The gasters ( guest workers. - S.S. ) are forgotten, and the revolutionaries begin to blunt their knives against the powerful souls.” Compare with the letter that came to the editors of Novaya ...

For Russian fascists, the main enemies are journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and public figures, anti-fascists, law enforcement and intelligence officers, businessmen and government officials who, in their opinion, somehow interfere with the creation of “real Russia”.

Accordingly, a tactic was chosen - individual terror. “Enemies of Russia” are classified into categories, data is collected about their lifestyle, place of residence, friends, acquaintances and relatives, sometimes surveillance is established (if a decision is made to “eliminate”), priority figures are selected for high-profile public executions. Like Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, like the anti-fascist Ivan Khutorskoy.

Under the guise of legal "patriotic" organizations ( like the same "Russian Obraz", whose magazine was edited by Nikita Tikhonov - read the details in the next issue of "Novaya" ), underground militant organizations are being created. And the “legal patriots”, communicating with the underground every day, do not know, for example, that the financing of military organizations is not even an order of magnitude, but several orders of magnitude more serious than the miserable crumbs released for public events, magazines and leaflets. At the safe house of Tikhonov and Khasis, for example, they found several tens of thousands of euros.

Members of the fascist military organizations have received good special training, do not lack weapons and means, they are numerous and well-hidden, they have enough forged documents, well-established connections in government structures, the media and law enforcement agencies. They also include elite fighters who purposefully prepare themselves for the physical destruction of the “enemies of Russia”. There are only 10 people like Nikita Tikhonov in Moscow. And recent mass arrests have not seriously weakened these militant organizations, about which, as it turned out, the special services really do not know anything. The question is: how could such numerous and well-funded special services and law enforcement agencies fail to create a powerful militant terrorist organization?