‘This isn’t our problem, Gena’

Video shows Yekaterinburg police sat in car and laughed while watching fight that ended in Gabonese student’s death

In August 2023, 32-year-old Francois Ndjaseli, a graduate student from Gabon who was studying at Yekaterinburg’s Ural Federal University, was fatally stabbed outside of a Burger King in the city. Danil Fomin, a local 23-year-old, was charged with the murder and arrested shortly after. According to eyewitnesses, in the minutes leading up to the murder, two police officers watched from a vehicle as Fomin and Ndjaseli got into a fight, not deciding to intervene until it was too late. Now, the local news outlet E1.ru has published a video of the officers’ conversation as they observed the conflict from afar. During the five-minute conversation, Gennady Izergin and Ivan Oleinikov made jokes about the fight, teased bystanders who asked them to step in, and made racist comments. In English, Meduza is publishing an abridged transcript of the recording.

Ivan Oleinikov: Whoa, they’re fucking each other up.

Gennady Izergin: Huh?

Oleinikov: They’re fucking each other up, you see? Fucking bus, get out of the way.

Izergin: Goddamn it, I can’t see a fucking thing.

Izergin starts the car and begins driving.

Oleinikov: What is it you want?

Izergin: We need to break it up.

Oleinikov: We don’t need to break up a thing! What are you talking about? This isn’t our fucking problem, Gena.

Izergin turns on turn signal.

Oleinikov: What do you mean? It’s one-on-one, not a crowd against a fucking crowd.

Izergin: We shouldn’t fucking…

Oleinikov: Dumbass. You wouldn’t let us watch the fucking talent show.

Izergin: Come on.

Oleinkov: “Come on.”

Izergin says something unintelligible.

Oleinikov: Well you shouldn’t have fucked up that taxi driver and puked in his car. (Laughs.) Ah, that fucking chick — because of her, he got the shit beaten out of him. (Imitates people shouting outside.) Look at how many flowers he gave him. He can barely carry them. His pants are torn. Go back a little, I can’t see a fucking thing.

Izergin and Oleinikov together: Whoa!

Oleinikov: Look, look… boom! And what… Oh! Black people.

Izergin: Black people!

Oleinikov: It’s Black people!

Izergin: Black people are fighting!

Oleinikov: Do you see another Black guy there? He’s, like, covering it.

Izergin: Some real fucking gems!

The two briefly discuss a different topic:

Oleinikov: Look! That old guy is running, he doesn’t give a fuck, he’s late for the bus. Oh, man.

Izergin laughs.

Izergin (imitating a woman’s voice): ‘Can you tell me the address here? I’m calling the police.’

Oleinikov (joining in): ‘Help, everyone’s covered in blood!’ (Stops imitating woman’s voice.) Who’s that over there?

Izergin: He’s pointing, like, there’s over there fighting, what the fuck are you standing there for. He really beat him the fuck up.

Oleinikov: Uh-huh.

Izergin: Huh?

Oleinikov: Probably. What the fuck is that? He’s running over here. Don’t look at him, just sit here. It’s the one who’s running, right?

Izergin: But…

Oleinikov: Don’t look at him.

Izergin: Either way, we need to pull up already. There’ll be a fucking complaint.

Oleinikov: Then drive.

Izergin: Then they’ll fucking penalize our asses again. Fucking seals, we’ve had it up to here with you, fucking drunks.

Oleinikov: I fucking got it. Come here, come here. He’s waving at me. Go fuck yourself, it’s a fucking fight.

Izergin: I’m fucking sick of these drunks.

Oleinikov: Are the headlights on?

Izergin: Wait, just a sec.

Oleinikov: Go fuck yourself. Waving here. Don’t pull right up.

Passerby: Guys, call an ambulance!

Oleinikov: What happened?

Passersby: Faster, faster!

Oleinikov: What, you can’t dial 03 or something?

Passerby: We’re calling.

Oleinikov: Okay, you’re calling, so what’s the problem? (Gets out of the car.) What happened? What happened?

By the time the police arrived at the scene of the crime, Francois Ndjaseli had been stabbed. After conducting an internal investigation, the Russian Interior Ministry fired both Gennady Izergin and Ivan Oleinikov. The officers have also been charged with abuse of authority and are facing up to 10 years in prison.