Million by Emely's head

Nikolai Emelyanov, one of the most wanted criminals in Russia, is on the run for 16 years and, possibly, is hiding in Ukraine. What is known about the leader of the gang, on the account of which more than 60 murders

The Emelyanovsk OPS from Bryansk is often compared with movie gangs like a “white arrow” or “brigade”. There is a similarity: members of the organized crime group killed mainly representatives of the thieves' community (thieves in law, authoritative bandits, etc.), about 70 murders on their account. But, unlike the serial, the “Emelyanists” were not killed in order to restore justice, but to remove competitors and take their place in criminal structures.

The New Gazeta Europe talks about the activities of Nikolai Emelyanov, one of the most wanted criminals of the country.

The most-most

On September 19, 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs once again published a list of the most wanted Russian criminals. The only change in comparison with last year's list was that the neo -Nazi Semen Ermolinsky was excluded from him: the leader of the Ural organized crime group “Cleaners” went to war on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and died in May of this year.

Otherwise, all are the same: the leaders of the Azov battalion Konstantin Nemichev and Sergey Velichko (are accused of torture by the Russian military and murders with particular cruelty). Also in the list of dangerous criminals, the Orsk maniac Valery Andreev, he is suspected of involvement in the abductions, rape and killings of women in the Orenburg region from 2006 to 2012. Andrei Kuznetsov, known as the cell of Siluan, is also there: the organs suggest that he was hidden in the Sredneuralsky convent, which was held by supporters of the former schemoon of Sergius (Nikolai Romanov).

The list includes Nikolai Emelyanov, known as the leader of the Bryansk organized crime group Emel, Vladimir Kirillov, who attacked the murder of the chairman of the Samara Regional Court, as well as Dmitry Mamonov, who in 2002 came to his friend and stabbed him. To avoid punishment, Mamonov mined the body, the wire from the detonator closed to the front door lock and disappeared, but the explosive device did not work.

Oleg Tymoshenko - a native of Ukrainian Kirovograd, known in criminal circles nicknamed Timokh, defendant in a series of custom -made murders and robberies - is also included in the list of criminals most wanted by law enforcement officers. There are also Andrei Samoilov, who is the main suspect in the commissioning of at least five murders and attempts to kill three people in Chelyabinsk and Surgut in 1991 and 1995, and the leader of the organized crime group Fakhrudin Makhmudov, who escaped from the Russian Federation, nicknamed Farid. The list is closed by Vladimir Shestherin, who, according to the investigation, is involved in the death of the criminal authority of Stanislav Galkin.

“The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs asks citizens to help the search for criminals who have committed especially serious crimes. The amount of remuneration for the help of the wanted list is 1 million rubles for each of the wanted ones, ” the report said on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On May 5, 2025, Shot said that the journalists of the publication established the location of Nikolai Emelyanov, the leader of the organized crime group "Emelyanovsky": he allegedly moved to Ukraine.

Interchangeability

Nikolai Emelyanov was born on September 19, 1961 in the village of Gosoma of the Bryansk region. It is not much known about his life before the beginning of the 90s, but around the mid-90s he begins to flicker in the criminal reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“At that time, Emelyanov had no militants at all, he was engaged in economic crime,” former employee of the Organized Crime Control Department Leonid S. told reporters in 2020, “money from smuggling was laundered through operational information controlled by Emelyanov. In addition, he had a network of payment terminals, which worked, to put it mildly, very crooked, and many one-day firms. And the long -standing acquaintance, politician and entrepreneur Nikolai Denin helped Emelyanov in his affairs - it was he who introduced Emel into a big business. And he, in turn, financed Denin’s movement into politics. As a result, Denin became the governor of the Bryansk region (2004–2014), then he was dismissed in connection with the loss of confidence, convicted of abuse of official powers and was even freed. But Emelya is still running ... "

The Bryansk region from the south has a common border with Ukraine, from the west - with Belarus. Since the 90s, smuggling has flourished here, and in all directions: both to Russia and to Ukraine with Belarus. All smuggling channels were tightly controlled by the thieves 'community, and anyone who earned it on smuggling was obliged to pay in the thieves' common fund. Including Emelyanov, who actively did not like it. He constantly delayed payments to the common fund, paid less than expected from him, but he could not seriously put the thieves in the law on Emelyanov: they supported Emel not only in the administration of the Bryansk region, but also power structures.

At the same time, members of the Saransk organized crime group, led by Gennady Kulaev, appear in Bryansk. They fled from the capital of Mordovia after losing in a criminal war with other organized crime groups. Kulaev converges closely with Emelyanov, and the smuggler of Emely has his own team of militants. And Emelya decides that the time has come for active actions in relation to the thieves' community. There were three thieves in the law in Bryansk: Merab Tabagua named Mukha, Boris Petrushin - Baryga and Oleg Rogachev - Rogachelok. They got along well with each other, opposing possible competitors by a united front.

In early 2002, the confrontation between Emely and the thieves' community reached a peak point. It became clear both aspects of the conflict that "only one should stay." Emelya instructed Kulaev to eliminate the huckster. And thieves, in turn, decided to eliminate Emelyanov. But they did not want to use their own resources, but turned to the leader of the Dubrovskaya organized crime group (based in the Dubrovsky district of the Bryansk region) Vasily Petrov and paid 10 thousand dollars for eliminating Emelya. The order was handed over to Viktor Magomedov nicknamed Green, the leader of the Chechen-Dagestan organized crime group, who also acted in Bryansk.

The attempt on the huckster was unsuccessful. On February 27, 2002, the Mercedes of the thief in law was shot from two Kalashnikov assault rifles. The forensics counted 54 bullet holes, but the huckster received a non -hazardous wound and a month later left the hospital. After an unsuccessful attempt, Emelya switched to an illegal position and began to look for allies. They were found themselves - and these were those who were entrusted with the elimination of Emely.

“The Dubrovskaya organized crime group, led by Petrov, was closely collaborating with the Roslavl organized crime group from the Smolensk region,” said Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Ryzhenko, head of the department for the investigation of especially important cases of the SK of the Kaluga region. -The Roslavl organized crime group was organized by a former physical education teacher Yuri Misurkin in the early 90s, the group included mainly athletes-boxers. Simultaneously with Misurkin in the neighboring Dubrovsky district (there were only 42 km between the centers), but the Dubrovskaya organized crime group, which was headed by a longtime friend of Misurkin, former police officer Vasily Petrov, was organized.

And quite quickly, a mutually beneficial tandem was organized between groups. If the "Roslavl" needed to eliminate someone, they turned to the "Dubrovsky". Well, if someone interfered with the last, the neighbors solved the problem.

I must say that a similar approach greatly confused the investigation. Even having come to possible performers, the investigation rested in the absence of a motive. And without it, the evidence base was quite easy to destroy in court. In the mid-90s, Misurkin disappeared. There was operational information that it was eliminated by the members of the organized crime group Igor Galantsev (nickname Gall) and the former “Krapovy beret”, who also joined the group, Alexei Mogilev (grave). Allegedly decided that they would better cope with business. According to another version, Misurkin left Business voluntarily, received a certain amount from the common fund and left the country. Personally, I believe that the second option is more real. Because after Misurkin’s disappearance, cooperation between the Roslavl and Dubrovskaya organized crime groups did not stop. Moreover, Galantsev even became the godfather of Petrov’s son, and he baptized the daughter of Galantsev. If the latter eliminated Misurkin, it was unlikely that such a close friendship would be between him and Petrov. Although in a criminal environment everything happens ... "

Having received an order for Emel, Petrov asked former colleagues from the organs, which was Emelyanov, to which they replied: “Emelya is a normal guy, but Green (Magomedov) licks the thieves in the law of the heel. We just took this thieves' nest as a development, so you think. ” Petrov did not dare to abandon the order, but decided to pull time.

The second attempt on a thief in the Law of Baryga was undertaken on April 30, 2002. The Car of the "Legor" was again fired from machine guns, but Petrushin (Baryga) was not even wounded.

“We had information that at the Baryga thieves 'gathering, which took place immediately after the attempt by the thieves' gathering, that he would“ flood the area of ​​blood, so that it would be not unimportant to lick at the thieves, ”Grigory S., a former employee of the organized crime department in the Bryansk region, told Novaya Gazeta Europe. - Of course, we could not allow this. All Bryansk police units switched to an enhanced operating mode, even asked for help from neighboring areas, and they sent several dozen employees. Almost every day raids, stripping, raids passed. Previously convicted under various pretexts were put in an insulator or simply kept temporary content in the departments in chambers. And we managed to prevent lawlessness in the region. But at the end of May, a close friend and accomplice of Barygi Mikhail Leonov was killed in the Kaluga region. Upon learning of this, Petrushin fell into Moscow. At the exit from Bryansk, Land Cruiser stopped at a traffic light, at that moment a motorcycle with two riders caught with him. Sitting from behind, as it later turned out, it was a full -time killer of the Saransky organized crime group Gennady Baronov, took out a shortened Kalashnikov and released the entire store, the goal of the huckster in the head. The thief had no chance.

The sentence on the third attempt

After the murder of the huckster, Petrov turned to Magomedov (Green) demanding to increase the reward for Emely's head. He refused, and Petrov with a clear conscience canceled the order, returning the money. Then he went to Emelya and offered cooperation. He agreed, and a criminal community was formed in the Bryansk and Smolensk regions, into which four organized crime groups joined: Roslavl, Dubrovskaya, Saranskaya and Emelyanovskaya. Nikolai Emelyanov became the leader of the OPS.

“In those days, this OPS did what I wanted and was almost untouchable,” says SK Ryzhenko, an employee of SK Ryzhenko. - They could take a car from a person, because their own did not start. To shoot a cafe from machine guns, because they were served uninhabited barbecue, there was evidence that they even killed random people, because they looked incorrectly towards the bandits. And, of course, the elimination of competitors from the thieves' world: thieves in the Law of the Barygi and Fly (Merab Tabagua), the looking and positions of Bogdanov, Kryukov, Zinkevich, Shlapakov, Shugarov, Solukov. And all this came away with them thanks to Emelyanov’s close acquaintance with the governor. ”

On September 9, 2014, Governor Nikolai Denin was removed from his post as "having lost confidence in the President of the Russian Federation." Denin was accused of misuse of budget funds. According to investigators, he ordered to allocate funds from the reserve fund of the region for the Snezhka poultry farm after a bunker with grain exploded at the enterprise in 2011. As a result of the incident, two people died. Before his election by the governor, he was the general director of the factory and its main shareholder, after the election of the campaign, were rewritten to his wife and niece. The investigating authorities came to the conclusion that the money was allocated “in the absence of legal grounds” and spent the enterprise for current financial and economic activities under the pretext of eliminating the consequences of the explosion. On November 19, 2015, the court sentenced Denin to four years in prison.

Simultaneously with the charges of Denin, a large -scale development of the Emelyanovsky OPS began.

“Actually, the law enforcement agencies were serious clues immediately after the execution of Andrei Solukov on January 28, 2004,” recalls the former UBOPovets Grigory S. “Solukov replaced Magomedov (Grinya) after he hurriedly left for Moscow. Emelya entrusted his relative who had served eight years for robbery, Andrei Radyukov, nicknamed Khokhol. He did not differ in a special mind, but he could not refuse to cunning. Khokhol came to Solukov and told him: "Emelya ordered you, but this is not according to the concepts, and I will not do this." The watching one immediately imbued with Hokhl trust and brought Radyukov closer to himself. And he, choosing the moment when they ended up in Solukov’s apartment together, calmly shot authority. After that, Solukova first called from the home phone Emele, reporting on the completion of the task, and then also to his home, telling his wife that it would be soon and that she would warm up dinner. Of course, these formations were instantly broken out, Radyukov was arrested and almost immediately split. Upon learning of this, Emelya rushed on the run, and we went to Petrov. We had something on a former colleague that he would hardly have been forgiven in the criminal world. Petrov went to cooperate and helped to catch Emelyanov. In September 2004, Emel was arrested and sent to the eagle pre -trial detention center, away from Bryansk.

And in October, Radyukov escaped from the house arrest, dwelling in the guard of Klofelin. In January 2005, he was found on a street near the apartment that he rented. He was shot during a walk with his wife and newborn son. The investigation fell apart, and Emelya was released.

And in July 2005, Vasily Petrov shot him, he was literally riddled with machine guns: the forensics counted more than 50 bullet holes in the body. For several years, the OPS Emeli again became untouchable.

According to Gregory, the movements in the case were outlined only after the center of the investigation moved from Bryansk to the Kaluga region. There, from 2007 to 2009, the “Emelyanovskys” committed a number of crimes, among them at least two murders. In 2011, several members of the community were arrested, but not Emely. In 2014, five members of the OPS, including Igor Galantsev, appeared before the jury and ... were justified.

“For the investigation, this became a shock, especially considering the scale of the gang crimes,” said Dmitry Ryzhenko, head of the group in the Kaluga region. - The testimony of more than 30 witnesses who directly indicated the performers of crimes were not taken into account. There was a pressure on the jury, the fact of beating one of them was recorded. Also in the case was the testimony of the participants of the same group. They talked in detail about how they were preparing for crimes. There were data from technical means of control. Probably, then support from the authorities allowed the accused again to evade liability. ”

Then the governor Denin was removed from office, and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation canceled the jury verdict for formal circumstances. Participants in the OPS were again arrested. This time two more community members joined them. But Emelyanov managed to hide again. The investigation was transferred to Moscow, it was engaged in employees of the central apparatus of the IC of the Russian Federation. Operational support cycling Main Directorate for the Criminal Investigation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Many witnesses received state protection, in addition, some of the detainees, fearing life imprisonment, made contact with the investigation.

On July 30, 2019, two members of the OPS (Galantsev and one of the killers - Sergey Novgorodov) were sentenced to life imprisonment. The rest received from 18 to 24 years of imprisonment. Nikolai Emelyanov put on the international wanted list.

For 16 years that he was wanted, there were various information about where he can be. In addition to Ukraine, which Shot writes about, is also called Bulgaria, where Emelya, having changed appearance, can live according to fake documents.

- At a time when Emelya squeezed out thieves in law from Bryansk and, except for the automobile business, took control of most of the smuggled channels, his revenues of the OPS were calculated in tens of millions of dollars a month,

- says the former UBOBOVOVOVER Grigory. - And this is the lower bar, it is quite possible that there was much more money. Of course, Emelya made a “nurse” for a rainy day, and there is clearly enough for a comfortable pension in the house by the sea. More than a dozen million. Yes, and it was all long before the sanctions - he could make a passport, and appearance and biography. And if he managed to leave Russia, now he can be anywhere.

But, probably, still not at the front - now a fugitive bandit is 64 years old.

It is noteworthy that a reward was scheduled for information about him, which thieves were paid for the head in 2002: a million rubles at the current exchange rate - a little more than 10 thousand dollars.