The investigation lead the executioners

The investigation lead the executioners

A story about who and how makes spies from Russians

Julia Balakhonova

December 15, 2021

The case of former journalist Ivan Safronov, accused of Gosizman, is conducted by investigator Alexander Chaban. Almost all “spies” and “traitors” in Russia pass through it - because to receive confession from them, he does not stop at anything. It was the chaban that became the personification of the system, which the special services use the sake of receiving confession.

A year and a half ago, on the morning of July 7, 2020, Ivan Safronov left the house to go to work, to Roscosmos. He managed to approach the car where employees of the Federal Security Service were overtaken and immediately took him to the country's most closed prison - Lefortovo. Formally, it is not subordinate to the special services, but is included in the system of the Ministry of Justice, but in reality this pre -trial detention center is ideally adapted for the dirty work of the Chekists. Ivan was already waiting there.

For which Safronov is kept in prison

Ivan Safronova is accused of cooperation with Czech special services and the transfer of information about the military-technical cooperation of Russia with "one of the Middle Eastern African countries."

All the accusation is being built on Safronov’s conversation with a friend in which he allegedly disclosed some secret information, and that this friend “recruited” him. FSB and Vladimir Putin assure that the case is not connected with the journalistic activity of Safronov, but with his work in Roscosmos. This contradicts the documents from the case - they indicate a period when he has not yet been an employee of the corporation, and in Roscosmos they say that Ivan did not have access to Gostine.

The detainee was brought to a characteristic office (more about him - below), where he saw a large, shabby bald man, as a lawyer Ivan Pavlov tells with huge fists and frightening eyes.

So Ivan met with the senior investigator of the first department of the Investigative Department of the FSB, Alexander Chaban. It is to this person, by virtue of his specific skills, the authorities are trusting to conduct the first interrogation of almost all the suspects in the Stateizer - so that he will break them quickly, bending to plead guilty, one of the lawyers says.

Safronov also suggested admitting to Safron - why pull the time if the investigation has already figured out everything, says lawyer Ivan Pavlov. But Ivan refused the proposal, which was why he had to see a frightening person and further - the chaban began to conduct his business. Methods that he has already worked many times on other people.

How many "traitors" in Russia

We do not know about the vast majority of people who are charged with espionage and treason - all these cases are classified. But, judging by the information periodically rendered in the media, the account goes thousands.

According to the FSB report and the words of Vladimir Putin:

129

personnel employees exposed in 2018

465

exposed agents of foreign intelligence services in 2018

3.5 thousand

Caught traitors of their homeland and spies over the past 10 years

Helpers of the executioners

Another person was waiting in the Kuban’s cabinet - the appointed lawyer Mikhail Baev. This is an “experienced” lawyer for purpose in cases affecting the interests of the Chekists. He worked as a defender for Antonina Zimina - he was accused of revealing the personality of the FSB officer, who was a guest at her wedding and got into group photographs. In 2020, Antonin was sentenced to 13 years in colony. Of course, Safronov could also defend more experienced, and, most importantly, interested experts - by this time Safronov’s friends turned to the “team 29” specializing in the affairs of the lawyer Ivan Pavlov. Moreover, the defenders from the team 29 have already arrived at Lefortovo, but they were never allowed into the cabinet to the chaban. This is not surprising:

“The investigator needs lawyers who help him to quickly persuade the accused to admit guilt,” says Pavlov. “They are not there to protect people.”

According to him, the chaban always offers the detainees and continue to deal with the lawyer on purpose on an ongoing basis, and dissuades from independent defenders in every possible way - otherwise it will be worse. Many detainees believe the investigator. At least 23 cases of state reception and espionage were attended by lawyers appointed by the state, or lawyers under the agreement whose actions harmed them, from the report of “Team 29”. Such defenders advised the suspects to admit guilt and agree with the investigation, missed the deadlines for appealing the court decisions or did not take any actions at all to protect the accused.

During the interrogation of Safronov, the lawyer did not show himself in any way - he did not explain to him what was happening, did not help answer the investigator’s questions, did not advise about filling out the protocol, says lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov. But Ivan was still relatively lucky - usually the appointed lawyers are not just silent, but actively help the investigation. A striking example is Elena Lebedeva-Romanova, who was appointed to defend singer Vladimir Martynenko, detained in 2010 on charges of transferring secret documents to Chinese intelligence.

At the first interrogation, she smoked without stopping, and did not do anything anymore, did not even help Vladimir at the most important moment. Elena did not answer our questions. The fact is that during the detention, glasses were taken away from him, without which he could not read the interrogation protocol. The lawyer also did not read him, moreover, she gave an amazing advice - to sign the document without reading, Martynenko himself recalls. Of course, the appointed lawyers do not just work for the investigation - for this they receive the loyalty of the FSB officers and a reward from the state, says lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov.

But even if the prisoners choose an independent lawyer, they are rarely seen. In Lefortovo, lawyers are allowed to be sent to the client once every three weeks, and this meeting can last only 10 minutes. Some are even less lucky - to Grigory Pasko - this is a military journalist who was accused of Gosizman in favor of Japan and sentenced to 4 years in 2001 - lawyers were not allowed for three months.

The attitude of the authorities towards defenders best characterizes such an episode. A year after the detention of Safronov, for interrogation in his case, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the ex-journalist at the last place of work, was called. Rogozin came to the chaban without a lawyer at all, trying not to configure the shepherd against himself from the threshold - because it is believed that if such an important person came with the defender, then he is no longer “his own” for the FSB, Pavlov reasoned.

To persuade the guilt arrested, the Chekists use not only lawyers. Martynenko recalls that investigators and cellmates specially planted to him persistently advised him to talk with the clergy - "to relieve suffering." Vladimir agreed, but according to the results of communication, he had the impression that he talked with the “Chekist in the cassock”, who certainly would not observe the secret of confession. State psychiatrists also help investigators - during communication they do not support prisoners, but on the contrary, try to get out of themselves and shake nerves, says Martynenko.

The conditions of detention also contribute to the arrested to break. After the detention, Safronov was first sent to quarantine - in a “loner” without a TV and a refrigerator. And then they settled with another detainee - eight meters in a tiny camera, says lawyer Pavlov.

At the disposal of the Agency was the only modern photograph of the camera in Lefortovo, which clearly visible in which the suspects spend 23 hours a day. Two beds, two tables for food, two stools fit in a small area. There is also a toilet-it is clearly visible in the door eye, in which the guards are looking every 2-3 minutes. The main entertainment is that he did not work in Safronov’s television - Ivan and the cellmate tried to fix it, sticking the antenna to the wall, for this they sent Safronov to the punishment cell for three days. You can’t sleep during the day - just lie with your eyes closed. How employees control the compliance with this requirement is unknown.

The sky is not visible from the camera. The prisoners can enjoy it an hour a day, walking the same size in the cell, but in the open air. A constant click, which guards emit with the help of a used can of baby food, are taken from the camera. Clicks are needed as a warning to exclude the meeting in the corridor of two components.

However, the accused is much worse in interrogations, the main specialist in which is a shepherd.

We can not be intimidated, but we can help us

Investigations are not only dangerous, but also very costly work. It requires the efforts of a large number of people, difficult business trips and long months of labor.

Support "Agency"

Frequent questions

Standartenfuhrer

Colonel of Justice Alexander Chaban loves a film about Standartenführer Stirlitz. When lawyers from the team 29 studied the materials of the Safronov case, he suddenly included music from the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring” in columns, says lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov. In the Kaban’s office, the figurine of the first chapter of the Soviet Chekists Felix Dzerzhinsky, a poster with the alphabet, significant words for fighters for each letter of the alphabet, the Alpha fighter, is an anti -terrorist special forces of the FSB, on the wall, a book with Aphorisms Vladimir Putin on the desktop and the Bibles and the Bibles, are set up in the cabinet. icons. There is also a certificate of the significance of the shepherd in the office - a photograph in which the investigator is solemnly handed to the state unit on Poklonnaya Gora. The description of the office is given from the words of the lawyers Ivan Pavlov and Evgeny Smirnov.

Chaban and his colleagues did a lot for the current Russian government. After the Russian-Georgian conflict of 2008, Spynomania in Russia turned against the Georgians, who turned out to be defendants in a whole series of crazy deeds. Six saleswomen and housewives were accused of state-owned residents of Sochi, they were accused of state-fashioned-they saw in the city openly moving military equipment and, impressed by what they saw, told their relatives and acquaintances in SMS messages. A chaban was already introduced into the investigative group in these cases, the lawyer Pavlov knows. The process was so absurd that even Putin, who pardoned the women, though a few years after the conviction, paid attention to him.

What is the associated spying in Russia

Spies and traitors found by Russian investigators usually work for countries with which Russia has a conflict at that moment. This is clearly seen in those few matters that became known - they were collected in the report “Team 29”, which analyzed 117 cases, the sentences for which were issued from 1997 to 2017.

How many people were accused of Gosizmen and espionage in favor of different countries in the period from 1997 to 2021, according to open data from the media and the “Team 29” report:

The chaban is fully consistent with the expression “man in its place,” says lawyer Dmitry Talentov, who is now defending Safronov. He likes to put pressure on people, especially, his appearance contributes to intimidation, and, knowing this, the chaban uses this, says one of the lawyers. In pressure on the detainees, all investigators work according to the same “manuals” from the authorities, the lawyer Smirnov claims that there is a whole system of instructions of the FSB investigative department on how to work with the detainees, but the shepherd realizes these instructions so organically and tough, according to the lawyers Ivan Pavlov and Evgeny Smirnov, that with his arrival at the prisoners, a new stage began, claims to be a new stage, claims to be a new stage Pavlov.

The views and methods of the shepherd are clearly visible on the example of the case against the elderly physicist Viktor Kudryavtsev, in 2018 accused of the transfer of secret data from Belgium, a scientist who worked at the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering and modeling launch vehicles and satellites, detained in the summer of 2018, accusing the transfer of secret data to the Belgian Fon-Karmanovskiy Institute Hydrodynamics. According to colleagues, Kudryavtsev talked with this institute as part of the International Spacecraft Aerodynamics Project.

“If a Russian scientist goes abroad, gives lectures there, takes part in international conferences, of course, he is a traitor to his homeland,” Kaban said in an informal conversation with lawyers

Says lawyer Ivan Pavlov.

Kudryavtseva persuaded the investigator to testify to his student Roman Kovalev, and for this he promised to let go of the pre -trial detention center under house arrest. The Criminal Code provides for liability for declining to the testimony. But, despite the fact that Chaban admitted to this in court, he was not even removed from the investigation, says lawyer Evgeny Smirnov. This is a terrible, but very seductive proposal, the elderly rejected the elder, but the student did not save - Kovalev was still arrested.

Now the shepherd has taken up Kovalev, requiring him an testimony for the teacher, and in return promising the impossible: “You will live your previous life, go to work, communicate with your family, and in Lefortovo - only spend the night,” said Kovalev’s cellmate to one of the lawyers. But there were more terrible threats - during the interrogations, the chaban said that the scientist would be raped in prison, he would never see his wife again, especially since she was older, and certainly will not live until his return. The Investigative Department of the FSB did not answer our questions about the methods and behavior of Alexander Chaban. The pressure was so terrible that during the next conversation the interrogated was emptied directly into his pants, Kovalev’s cellmate said to one of the lawyers. As a result, Kovalev broke and signed the testimony for his teacher, and he went to a strict security colony for seven years - this is less than the terms that are usually given for these cases - the state -owned punishment is provided for 12 years. Viktor Kudryavtsev, due to a poor state of health, was nevertheless released from the pre-trial detention center under a recognizance not to leave, and the case was suspended. In 2021, he died.

With his methods and impudence, the chaban even shock the court - at one of the processes, he began to demand from lawyers a subscription to non -disclosure of the secrets of the preliminary investigation - she suggests that they can not tell absolutely nothing, even about their participation in the process. The judge, according to Pavlov and Smirnov, was able to comment only with the words: “What is this in *** nya?!” - True, behind the chaban.

“He is a cruel person in a position that gives him great power over people who were under investigation. His authorities obviously suits this, ”the famous lawyer Ilya Novikov characterizes the shepherd.

He met the investigator, defending the Norwegian Frude Berg, who in 2017 was accused of collecting data on Russian atomic submarines. The shepherd immediately proved himself: he often left Berg without the translator he needed during investigative measures and at the trial, did not allow him to transfer books, carried out a huge number of meaningless investigative actions - just to tighten the process. Chaban did not even hide what he was trying to put pressure on Berg: “He took such a position in the testimony that you want” - the quote is given from the words of Novikov

After leaving prison, Frude Berg spoke in the book about what happened to him in Lefortovo, in particular, about the investigator Alexander Chaban and his methods:

“It was clear that in front of him is a person who would make every effort so that the conditions of conclusion become unbearable for the Norwegian.

“He makes some inarticulate sounds, snorts and grumbles,” Berg wrote in his diary after he and Novikov tried to raise the question of why Berg did not allow his wife or not transmitted newspapers and emails. “As if something hurts him.”

“A large, bald man made it clear that the question of the conditions of conclusion, including the possibility of calls home, depended on how much Berg was ready to“ cooperate “with the investigation.”

The well -known things of the shepherd

Frude Berg

Norwegian Frude Berg allegedly collected information about the nuclear submarines of the Russian Navy, which he received from an employee of the Russian defense enterprise. In 2019, Berg was sentenced to 14 years in a maximum security colony, a few months after the sentence he was exchanged.

Victor Kudryavtsev

The elderly scientist was detained in 2018 on suspicion of transferring secret information about hypersonic technologies in missile systems to the Belgian Fon-Karmanovskiy Institute of Aerodynamics. For more than a year, he was under arrest, then he was released on a subscription about his own departure because of his rapidly worsening state. In 2021, Viktor Kudryavtsev died, not having survived until the end of the investigation.

Roman Kovalev

The student and colleague physicist Viktor Kudryavtsev made similar accusations. Kovalev in 2020 was sentenced to 7 years in a maximum security colony.

Victor Korolev

The 69-year-old pensioner from Vladivostok was detained at the end of 2019. The case materials are classified - most likely, the accusation of the Stateizer is due to the fact that Korolev sold in China additives to oils and lubrication that the Russian Ministry of Defense uses.

Dmitry Fedotkin

Aeroflot employee is suspected of transferring secret data to intelligence services of Great Britain. Fedotkin was arrested in November 2020, he was charged with Gosizmen.

Anatoly Gubanov

Anatoly Gubanov scientist is accused of transmitting secret information about the development of high-speed aircraft in the transfer of one of the European countries. Губанова арестовали в декабре 2020 года, ему грозит от 12 до 20 лет лишения свободы.

Демур Воронин

Политолога Демури Воронина задержали в феврале 2021 года и обвинили в передаче секретных данных одной из стран НАТО. Воронину так же, как и Губанову, грозит от 12 до 20 лет колонии.

На допросах Чабан угрожал и Сафронову: «Ты получишь 15 лет!» — рассказывает один из адвокатов. Затем сменил гнев на милость и попробовал манипулировать Иваном: «Признаешь вину, сможешь позвонить матери». «Иван сказал, что вот это он следователю не простит», – рассказывает один из адвокатов Сафронова Дмитрий Катчев. Чабана раздражала несговорчивость Ивана и его адвокатов — он начинал злиться, вырывал листочки из их тетрадей, кричал, грозил вызвать других сотрудников и выставить всех за дверь во время допроса , рассказывает Павлов. Пробовал собирать на Сафронова компромат, подсаживая в камеру стукачей, но из этого ничего не вышло — сокамерникам попросту не о чем было доносить на Ивана, утверждает один из адвокатов

Сложности Чабан создает не только обвиняемым, но и их защитникам. С материалами дела против Сафронова Талантов знакомится в кабинете следователя, но делать это сложно — Чабан отбирает у него все, в том числе ручку и бумагу. А чтобы замедлить любые обращения адвоката, например, жалобы, Чабан запретил передавать ходатайства себе напрямую, заявив, что теперь он будет принимать их только через «Почту России» , рассказывает сам Талантов. Ответы на эти ходатайства от Чабана приходят через месяц — в некоторых случаях они уже теряют смысл.

Но больше всего Чабан любит создавать в своем кабинете нужную атмосферу. Когда Сафронов вместе с Талантовым в очередной раз занимались изучением материалов дела, они заметили над собой плакат со стихотворением Сергея Михалкова про шпиона , копия этого плаката якобы была найдена в телефоне Сафронова:

Чтоб мы спокойно жить могли.

Ты будешь стерт с лица земли!

Есть в пограничной полосе

Исписанный закон;

Мы знаем все, мы знаем всех:

Кто я, кто ты, кто он.

Повесил его Чабан — скорее всего, чтобы просто поиздеваться.

Их дом — тюрьма

Как ни странно, в мрачных застенках «Лефортово» царит семейная атмосфера, причем в прямом смысле этого слова. Чтобы следователям не приходилось ездить к арестантам, следственное управление ФСБ разместили в том же здании, что и СИЗО, так что от «шпионов» и «изменников» их отделяют только стены. Но роднит с «Лефортово» следователей не только это.

В документах Чабана , их копии есть в распоряжении «Агентства» в качестве места прописки указан адрес — улица Энергетическая, д. 3, корпус А, то есть здание самого Лефортовского изолятора. Это частая практика, чтобы скрыть реальное место проживания сотрудников, — там же прописаны и многие другие коллеги Чабана. Впрочем, показная любовь ко всему российскому соседствует в следователе Чабане с тягой к простой обывательской роскоши — к СИЗО он регулярно приезжает на дорогих иностранных автомобилях , заметили адвокаты из «Команды 29», да и живет, конечно, не в СИЗО. Его отцу Сергею Чабану принадлежит , следует из копий документов на недвижимость, имеющихся в распоряжении «Агентства», в Росреестре, по состоянию на декабрь 2021 года, сведения об этом объекте вообще отсутствуют, — возможно, это связано с тем, что данные о недвижимости госслужащих вычищают из Росреестра. Об этом, в том числе, писал ФБК квартира в ЖК «Лефортово парк» по адресу улица Красноказарменная 14А, корпус 6 площадью 106,5 кв.м. и стоимостью около 32 млн. рублей , в этом же корпусе квартиры продаются по цене 306,5 тысяч за квадратный метр.

Возможно, неподалеку проживает и младший Чабан вместе с семьей — жена следователя размещает на «Авито» объявления о продаже личных вещей с указанием адреса «100 метров от метро „Лефортово“».

Отец следователя Чабана — видный военачальник. Перед тем, как его сын посадил в тюрьму жительниц Сочи за смс о идущей в Грузию технике, его отец — Сергей Чабан — командовал силами СНГ в зоне грузино-абхазского конфликта.

Позже Чабан-старший работал в администрации президента, где был главным федеральным инспектором по нескольким регионам. Детство, проведенное Чабаном-младшим в военных гарнизонах, конечно, сказалось на его характере. «Он вел себя с адвокатами как типичный солдафон», — говорит Павлов.

Чабан — не единственный сотрудник следственного подразделения ФСБ, кто может похвастаться такой родословной. В ФСБ есть целые династии сотрудников, раскалывающих «шпионов», — так что неудивительно, что нынешние чекисты пользуются методами своих предшественников.

Руководитель Чабана, замначальника следственного управления Александр Сойма, — сын полковника ФСБ в запасе и президента Регионального общественного фонда содействия социальной и правовой поддержки ветеранов и сотрудников ФСБ Василия Соймы.

Василий Сойма

Отличный пример чекистской династии — семья Егоркиных. Старший, Николай Егоркин, работал начальником отдела военной контрразведки Тихоокеанского флота и прославился тем, что обнаружил заговор двух рыбаков, якобы планировавших во время празднования 1 мая взорвать трибуну, на которой должен был выступать 1-й секретарь краевого комитета КПСС Дмитрий Гагаров. Рыбаков посадили, но на апелляции в Верховном суде был признан факт фальсификации материалов уголовного дела. Людей оправдали и выпустили из тюрьмы, где они, к тому моменту провели уже 7-8 лет. На биографии Егоркина это не сказалось — он даже получил орден за это дело.

Николай Егоркин

Его сын пошел по стопам отца в прямом смысле этого слова — Александр Егоркин стал следователем в ФСБ и подделал несколько документов в деле Григория Пасько, в том числе подписи понятых. Фальсификацию даже зафиксировал суд — надо сказать, что и на его карьере это не отразилось , рассказывает Григорий Пасько. Помимо Егоркина в деле Григория Пасько была еще одна следовательница с интересной родословной: она оказалась дочерью краевого судьи, который давал разрешение ФСБ на установку жучков в квартире Григория и на слежку за ним.

Над важными делами чекисты работают вместе — обязанности делят между членами большой следственной группы, практически из всех следователей отдела , рассказывают адвокаты, работающие по делам о госизмене. Допросы, правда, проводят лишь Чабан и еще несколько человек — остальные заняты обысками, экспертизами, составлением материалов дела.

Следователи первого отдела СУ ФСБ

В отделе примерно 15 следователей, все они — военные люди , рассказывают адвокаты из «Команды 29».

Кузьмин П.В.

Head of the department

Сойма Александр Васильевич

Deputy Head

Плотников Павел Олегович

Deputy Head

Свинолуп Михаил Владимирович

Заместитель начальника СИЗО «Лефортово»

Чабан Александр Сергеевич

Старший следователь

Степанов Михаил Михайлович

Хижняк Алексей

Креков Дмитрий А.

Фомин А.С.

Шмыров Е.С.

Стеценко Д. В.

Вместе они формируют десятки томов уголовных дел, которые затем поступают в карманный для ФСБ Лефортовский суд. «Зачем нам какие-то неожиданности в регионах, когда есть проверенный Лефортовский суд», — разоткровенничался однажды Чабан с адвокатом Евгением Смирновым , вспоминает сам Смирнов.

* * *

Иван Сафронов несколько раз отказывался от сделок со следствием и настаивает на своей невиновности. За это его не только держат в тюрьме уже полтора года, но и не раз наказывали, в том числе карцером и запретом на общение с близкими. Никаких доказательств виновности Сафронова за все это время общественности представлено не было.