The legendary killer Alexey Sherstobitov, while imprisoned in a Lipetsk colony, writes books, composes songs, got married again and leads an active online life.
Sentenced to 23 years for murders committed in the 90s, the killer of the famous Medvedkovsky group, Alexey Sherstobitov, does not lose courage and regularly shares his photos from the colony, supplementing them with philosophical quotes. The imprisonment in no way affected his love for life, but only made him a prolific writer and poet.
51-year-old Alexey Sherstobitov is serving a 23-year sentence in the Lipetsk colony for 12 contract killings committed in the 90s.
Fame came to Sherstobitov in the mid-2000s, after he successfully hid from justice for many years. It is interesting that for a long time Sherstobitov was considered a fictional character, and his pseudonym - Lesha Soldat - was a collective image of a group of hired killers.
Sherstobitov in 2002, 4 years before his arrest and trial.
His life changed dramatically after his arrest in 2006. Then he made a sensational confession about 12 contract killings of crime bosses and businessmen, and as a result received 23 years of maximum security. But even in the colony he found something to do, starting to write poetry and prose. The starting point of his creative journey behind bars was his autobiography “Liquidator”. After its release, Alexey continues to try himself in new genres, and just a few days ago his new book “The Demon on Yavoni” was published.
But the famous killer did not stop at these achievements. Now he is learning a “new craft” - straight from the Lipetsk colony he became active in networking: Sherstobitov’s accounts were found in almost all in social networks. The outrageous prisoner arouses great interest among users. Online, he shares some of the features of his time in prison and advises readers to start every day with a smile.
Photo from an Instagram account that has already been deleted from the network.
The famous prisoner accompanied the photographs with philosophical quotes like this:
“They say that history cannot be changed. But that's not true. It is impossible to return the past day, but it is quite possible to correct yesterday’s mistakes today. And then “it was bad” will turn into “it was bad, but things have changed since then.” The story of your life is yours, so that you and only you can be its creator and rewrite it yourself, if necessary.”.
Lesha Soldat has an official website, a VKontakte group dedicated to his life, and a fairly popular YouTube channel. However, until recently, the most interesting news about Sherstobitov could be found on Istagram. The account, which was recently deleted due to publicity in the media, was maintained by the killer’s current wife, Marina. By the way, their love story surprised the world back in June 2016, when they registered their marriage.
Sherstobitov and his fiancee Marina, a psychiatrist who formerly worked as a forensic expert.
The camouflage genius met his future wife, 33-year-old psychiatrist from St. Petersburg Marina Sosnenko, through correspondence. Previously, the spectacular brunette was married to famous actor Sergei Druzhko. Letter after letter, Alexey and Marina got to know each other better and eventually decided to get married. The ceremony itself, carefully coordinated with the administration of the colony, lasted only about 15 minutes. And from the photo gallery of the official website of the crime writer, it became known that the young couple also consecrated their marriage with a wedding.
The marriage registration procedure was carried out in the office of the deputy. head of ITK. An employee of the registry office was specially invited for this purpose. Among the few guests were only the closest relatives and friends of the newlyweds - Lesha Soldat’s sisters, childhood friends of both spouses and the killer’s lawyer. After the marriage, the young couple, as legal spouses, received permission for a long visit. Also, on the occasion of the wedding, the prison management allowed a photo session. The newlyweds posed in costumes of American gangsters from the Prohibition period.
Despite the fact that many events from his personal life became public knowledge, Alexey continues to remain a man of mystery. This is largely due to his past life, many situations from which have not yet been voiced. Only sometimes Sherstobitov lifts this curtain of mystery, talking about the ups and downs of the 90s.
Criminal authority, founder of the Party of Russian Athletes Otari Kvantrishvili.
One of his loudest statements was his confession to the murder of Otari Kvarntrishvili in 1994. It was this high-profile case that caused a storm of emotions among those around him and made Lesha the Soldier re-realize how slippery his path as a killer had become after this order.
Boris Berezovsky after the assassination attempt in 1994
But the most difficult target, according to Sherstobitov, turned out to be Boris Berezovsky. The oligarch was in his sights in the same 1994. The reason for “this meeting” was a disputed 100 thousand dollars between a famous crime boss and a businessman. After Berezovsky survived the explosion of his car, Alexei was ordered to finish him off. But just a few seconds before carrying out the task, the killer learned that the decision to eliminate him had been canceled.
Alexey was detained in early 2006, at a time when he had already retired. Law enforcement agencies learned about the existence of Sherstobitov only in 2003, when the leaders of the Orekhovo-Medvedkovsk organized crime groups were arrested. One of them wrote a sincere confession, where he “leaked” his killer for the first time. During interrogations, ordinary militants spoke about a certain “Lesha the Soldier,” but no one knew his last name or what he looked like. Investigators believed that “Lesha the Soldier” was some kind of mythical collective image. Sherstobitov himself was extremely careful: he did not communicate with ordinary bandits, did not participate in their gatherings. He was a master of conspiracy and disguise: when going on business, he always used wigs, fake beards or mustaches. Sherstobitov did not leave fingerprints at the crime scene, and there were no witnesses.
Sherstobitov at trial in 2006.
In 2005, one of the leaders of the Kurgan organized crime group Andrei Koligov (she was associated with the Orekhovskaya and Medvedkovskaya organized crime groups), who was serving long term, unexpectedly called investigators to his place and stated that a certain killer had once taken his girl away from him (it was Irina). Through her, detectives found Sherstobitov, who was detained in early 2006 when he came to the Botkin hospital to visit his father. During a search on rented apartment Sherstobitova in Mytishchi, detectives found several pistols and machine guns.
Let us recall that while serving his sentence, Sherstobitov wrote 11 books on criminal topics. The controversial literary value of the works does not interfere with the writer’s popularity. Readers note the educational usefulness of the books. After all, the events of those years are still fresh in memory. While awaiting the verdict, Alexey Shestorbitov wrote a series of poems dedicated to the themes of repentance and death.
Everything that he wants to say to the outside world today, the ex-killer pours out through creativity. He tries to remember his “past sins” as little as possible and is optimistic about the future.
LIPETSK, June 17, news agency UralPolit.Ru. Former killer from the Orekhovo-Medvedkovsk organized crime group Alexey Sherstobitov, known in criminal circles as Lesha Soldat, married a psychiatrist from St. Petersburg right in a colony in the Lipetsk region, where he is serving a sentence for the murder of 12 people.
As Sherstobitov’s representative told Gazeta.Ru, the wedding ceremony was carefully coordinated with the administration of the colony. The whole process took about fifteen minutes and ended with an exchange wedding rings. Wearing precious jewelry in the camps is prohibited, so the rings were sent home for safekeeping. The newlyweds were congratulated on their wedding by the administration of the colony and the arriving guests - Alexei Sherstobitov's sisters - Svetlana and Yulia, childhood friends - Vyacheslav and Maxim, close girlfriend family Vera Khetsuriani and lawyer Alexey Ignatiev. According to the rules of the colony, after the wedding the killer was given a long visit with his wife.
As the bride Marina, a psychiatrist who previously worked as a forensic expert, told the publication, she did not hesitate to take the name of her new husband - Sherstobitov. Before the marriage, she talked with her spiritual father, who is ordained in the Russian Orthodox Church, who blessed the couple to continue the family line. The newlyweds also asked the colony administration to hold a commemorative photo session, for which the newlyweds could wear costumes in the style of the gangster 30s.
Sherstobitov met Marina through correspondence after a divorce from his first wife Irina, who lived with him for more than 10 years and went through the “dashing 90s.” So, letter after letter, the lovers decided to marry.
Alexey Sherstobitov was born into a military family and dreamed of serving all his life. Thus, Lesha Soldat served in a unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that provided special supplies, went through hot spots and was awarded the Order “For Personal Courage.” Then Sherstobitov met one of the authorities of the Orekhovskaya organized crime group, former KGB officer Grigory Gusyatinsky, whom he himself killed in 1995 on the orders of the new leaders of the group. The ex-special service officer arranged for Sherstobitov to work for the private security company Soglasie, where he became a full-time killer.
One of Lesha Soldat’s first tasks was the murder of the head of the Athletes Social Protection Fund, Otari Kvantrishvili. The businessman was shot dead on April 5, 1994. In 1997, a killer killed the owner of the Dolls nightclub, Joseph Glotser. On June 22, 1999, he also organized an assassination attempt on the head of the Russian Gold company, Alexander Tarantsev. In addition, Lesha Soldat was involved in the murder of Alexander Solonik in Greece, who was called “killer number one” in the press. As they say on the killer’s official website, Sherstobitov also had an order to eliminate Boris Berezovsky, but seconds before the shot, the command “hang up” followed.
In 2008, Alexey Sherstobitov was sentenced to 23 years in prison for a total of 12 murders and attempted murders. At the same time, it was not possible to prove his involvement in many more similar crimes. It is assumed that Sherstobitov is responsible for dozens of murdered crime bosses and businessmen.
Lesha Soldat was a master of conspiracy and disguise: when going on business, he always used wigs, fake beards or mustaches. Now in prison, Sherstobitov writes books and takes on the role of an expert in the field of the ability to kill. So, he wrote an autobiography “The Liquidator” in three parts, “Skin of the Devil” and “Someone else’s Wife.”
© Editorial “UralPolit.Ru”
Posted on January 29, 2014 at 01:04 pm · There are commentsIn the talk show studio Live broadcast January 28, 2014 Alexander Trushkin former boss Moscow Criminal Investigation Department, headed the special operation to capture Alexander Sherstobitov.
The story of killer N1 Alexei Sherstobity, nicknamed Lesha the Soldier, he was ordered by Berezovsky himself. Sherstobitov received 23 years in a maximum security colony, of which he has already served 7 years. Prison made him rethink a lot. How did a former cold-blooded killer come to the idea that when you shoot another person, you hit yourself?
Sherstobitov is a hereditary officer, but when the army was reduced, new acquaintances from the gym offered to serve them. At first he guarded the tents, and then, as the killer himself says, he was set up - they asked him to hide a bag with weapons, the next day the bag was not there and the bandits gave Alexei a choice - either you go to kill, or you remember that you have a family, a wife and child. So Sherstobitov became one of the most dangerous killers of the 90s. Famous businessmen, politicians, and leaders of criminal gangs became his targets. 12 only proven murders. Lesha the soldier was also a master of conspiracy; even investigators for many years could not catch him, and at some point they even began to consider him some kind of mythical collective image...
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Comments (29)
Comment rating: +7
It seemed that the program had been prepared very carefully. Trushkin is generally a hero, as if he stepped out of the pages of detective novels by the Weiner brothers! But all the same, a long-forgotten feeling of pride for our fearless MUR residents, for their country, has surfaced! And the handsome deputy Kh-shtein, with his final speech, reminded me of the Komsomol activists of the Soviet period; did he happen to work in the Komsomol district committee? The same hackneyed pretentious phrases that have been heard for years on TV, at party and Komsomol meetings and which we have all learned not to hear!
Comment rating: -4
That's right, the Dozhd TV channel is conducting a survey about whether it was necessary to surrender Leningrad, and Korchevnikov and Khinshtein on the Day of Complete Liberation from the Siege are glorifying the killer, isn't this an insult to the thousands of victims who died during the siege but did not surrender. Korchevnikov is no different from this killer.
Comment rating: +9
Eco, you got carried away... The program is not about a killer, but about an entire segment of Russia’s long-suffering history.
Although, of course, I would like to see them as heroes “ Live broadcast"Other, more worthy people.Comment rating: -5
He is not a hero, but a tragic villain. The characters here are completely different. In the program “Man and the Law” he looked better. He doesn't belong here. Why was he thrown onto the screen once again? To boo and spit on me once again? Such a story will only anger this public.
Comment rating: -5
Who didn’t give it to you!? All channels broadcast films and programs about the blockade for a whole week! There were especially interesting memories on Russia 24. But were you afraid that Sherstobitov and Korchevnikov would shoot you as soon as you switched?
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Comment rating: +8
Well, you've gone too far. The Civil War was one thing, when the entire country, all layers of society were involved in a whirlwind of massacres and bloody mayhem. And another thing is the 90s, when there were bloody fights over the redistribution of property. And who will analyze them, the entire era??? The researchers are too small. There is a personal division of business spheres here, and it cannot claim to be widely understood. You know, in the 90s I was already a fairly mature person, but this era affected me only with non-payment of wages and mass impoverishment of the population. So, about understanding the era, it sounds too loud. The scale of the personalities of the writers is not the same. It is clear that everyone (author and publisher) has their own goals. You should still write the Tsapok gang as historical figures influencing the course of history.
Comment rating: -3
Again! What did I steal and from whom? It’s immediately obvious that you were raised with advice. You are used to believing propaganda and not thinking for yourself.
The redistribution of property was global and affected everyone. This is a civil war over property.
Vouchers were distributed to residents. They could be exchanged for shares. Then they staged “shock therapy” with non-payment of wages. The sheep exchanged the vouchers for shares of fake companies like Khopra or Hermes, from which they were supposed to receive dividends, but they didn’t receive a damn thing. And who was more cunning concentrated in their hands large blocks of shares of enterprises, and therefore shares of ownership. But there were also those who understood what was happening and did not get rid of the vouchers so easily and received the shares directly, for example, the “red directors.” The next phase was a criminal war, where the authorities acted as generals, and the militants as infantry and executors. An example is non-ferrous metallurgy.
When the criminal “predators” died, sat down, and disappeared abroad, their property was seized by deception and cunning by “scavengers” like Deripaska or Abramovich. By marrying the “rotten ones” from the Yeltsin clan, they finally strengthened their power. Then they distanced themselves from politics and began to live like gods. But there was no blood on them, so you couldn’t grab them.
Those who were late for the redistribution or did not have access to the Kremlin began to divide firms, factories, entertainment centers, markets, etc.
Comment rating: -5
The entire history of mankind and Russia, in particular, is full of violence and injustice. There is no section without blood!
Read “History for Children” by A.O. Ishimova. Even Pushkin spoke flatteringly about this book. Especially pay attention to the showdown between the princes and their squads during the formation of Ancient Rus'.
What about the Civil War period? Very reminiscent of recent history, but characters other. Shouldn’t I write about this too?
By and large, everyone who publishes historical books makes money, but not on blood, but on embellished myths.
There is nothing wrong with trying to analyze the events of the 90s “before the trace goes away.”
Let me tell you a secret that the “cunning businessman” is Joseph Glotser himself, whose murdered brother was discussed in the program. Broadcast “Man and the Law” from 02/19/2009, publication of the book “Liquidator” in 2 parts, and he organized this program. He also helped Alexey avoid prison for life in exchange for testimony about those who ordered the murder.
Maybe they both want money. Or maybe Alexey is just tired of being silent and wants to rethink everything?
Alexey's most likely motivation for this moment— get a limited sentence, not a life sentence, and protect yourself from assassination attempts in prison.
Comment rating: +10
Lord, for two days in a row, this “Vladimir Central”, erect a monument to him in Ostankino, and we don’t need to talk about all sorts of “repentant” fiends who started talking, killed for money - let him rot in oblivion.
Comment rating: -9
Alexei most likely wanted not to go to prison for life, besides, as long as he is the bearer of unique information about the customers, it made sense to remove him or blackmail him with his family. If he told everything in a testimony, book, interview, handed over a unique archive to the police, he and his family cease to be “targets.”
Joseph Glotser is trying to draw attention to the investigation into the murder of his brother Yuri, which has been “stalled” for many years, and without Alexei’s testimony it was completely stuck.
But he turned to the wrong program; the audience here is not suitable. "The Honest Detective" would be perfect, but it's showing late.
After the resounding success of ChiZ in 2009, PR was not required. The book was already expected and became
A hired killer nicknamed Lyosha the Soldier eliminated his victims for a regular salary
“Killer No. 1” - this is how Alexey SHERSTOBITOV, nicknamed Lesha the Soldier, was considered. His crimes caused shock and awe for many years. His targets were businessmen, politicians, leaders of organized crime groups: Otari KVANTRISHVILI, Grigory GUSYATINSKY, Joseph GLOTSER, Alexander TARANTSEV... Lesha the Soldier also had an order for the liquidation of Boris BEREZOVSKY.
The prisoner sentenced to 23 years gave a frank interview to our correspondent for the first time.
- You recently published the book “Liquidator”. What did they want to say with it?
The meaning of the book was laid down in the working, initial title - “Anabasis to Repentance”. This can also be seen in the subtitle of the already printed publication - “Confession of a Legendary Killer.” In other words, this is the path through internal resistance, in battles with one’s pride, to the recognition of what has been done and the repentance of a fallen and spiritually lost person.
In Orthodoxy, the concept of “repentance” also means the opposite of what was done. My book is precisely such an action, designed to debunk all the romanticism of such a life, to remove the wrapping of excuses for the events of that time. But at the same time, highlight the reasons that led young people like me, some to violence, some to prison, and some to unknown death.
Remove the oligarch
In your book you describe how Berezovsky should have been killed. Do you regret not pulling the trigger at that fateful moment?
Then Berezovsky split seconds separated from death. It is impossible to say whether it would have been better or worse if the bullet had reached its target. It’s not for me to judge his actions, although it is clear who he was for Russia. God will be his judge. I don't regret it!
- But why was it not possible to bring the matter to an end in the assassination attempt on Berezovsky?
Then the task was set by Sylvester (the leader of the Orekhovskaya organized crime group Sergei Timofeev. -B.K.). He was also the mastermind behind the murder. Otari Kvantrishvili. Solved a multimillion-dollar task: taking control of the Tuapse Oil Refinery. And, as with the assassination attempt on Otari, the execution of the assassination attempt on BAB was supervised by Kultik ( Sergey Ananyevsky, the head of the Russian Powerlifting Federation at that time and at the same time the second person in the Orekhovo-Medvedkovskaya organized crime group. - B.K.) And Grigory Gusyatinsky- “foreman” of the Medvedkovskys, a former KGB officer nicknamed Grisha Severny. He persuaded us to keep in touch via walkie-talkie. I am categorically against polluting the airwaves in such situations. But I had to give in.
At the very last moment the airwaves exploded with screams. And with full concentration on the target before the shot, third-party senses are almost turned off. I barely heard this swearing and realized that the operation had been suspended literally a split second before the shot.- Does it look like interference from some influential forces?
Gusyatinsky sometimes asked to do something for Sylvester, and that was the case that time too. I expressed to him my dissatisfaction with the failed case. But he stated that the order to stop the operation was given by Sylvester himself from someone’s office in Lubyanka. Just think about it: who fought with whom, at whose expense, for the sake of whose interests? And who ultimately won. Or lost. Think at your leisure why, three days before the shots at the Krasnopresnensky baths, Kvantrishvili was under surveillance by one of the departments of the same structure, and he was shot without interference.
- In “Liquidator” you name the owner of “Russian Gold” Alexander Tarantsev as the orderer of a number of murders. Including the owner of the Dolls club, Joseph Glotser. Aren't you afraid of libel charges? Or something even worse?I'm not afraid of the truth! The investigators who led our case have this information better than me. All these years, I, like any of our organized crime groups, knew who this man was. However, I am sure that the law applies differently to people like him than to ordinary citizens. Mister Tarantsev- is no exception to the businessmen who started in the early 90s. But compared to some of the current people who are free and boldly flashing on the silver screen, he is just a child! I wrote about him in the book for only one reason - Alexander Petrovich’s company was a very large sector of the economy of our “trade union”. A lot of things revolved around his company. Without him, everything said would be incomplete and would be perceived as untruthful. And there is not a word of lies in this book!
Some politicians are worse than bandits
If the 90s were transported to our time? Imagine you received an order for a famous politician or businessman. Let's say Chubais.
Well, if you look at it from the perspective of that time... Big names, then, will be looked for seriously. There are always two sides though. One will benefit from this, the other will lose. I don’t like politics; there is no place for morality in it: blackmail, political destruction of the enemy, frame-ups. But people also choose this path themselves. To be honest, sir Nemtsov I don’t perceive him as an oppositionist. He, like Chubais, one of those who handed us over to the West and actually started the civil war that my book is dedicated to. I remember well what these young reformers undertook in the 90s and how it all ended. I think that then I would not have shot at a politician, although time has shown that for the most part they are worse than those for whose death I was convicted.
- In your opinion, is a killer a profession? Or a way of life? Or maybe this is fate?Here the possible indignation of the readers of your newspaper immediately comes to mind: “We’ve made it, they’re interviewing a killer! As if there is no one more worthy! And they also ask you to tell us about your profession!” Maybe they're right. But how then can we solve this problem if we don’t talk about it?
Although “killer” is translated from English as “killer,” I have never been a killer! A killer - definitely! Because the killer receives a large fee for carrying out the order, but I did not receive money for the elimination, because I was on a permanent salary. The amount varied depending on financial condition"trade union". It came out to two thousand dollars a month, then it became five. At the same time, I have always been mainly engaged in the extraction of information - wiretapping phones, intercepting mobile and paging communications, surveillance, search, analysis. This was precisely what was included in my main responsibilities for almost a decade and a half, and it was thanks to my main activity that the MUR investigators were so pleased with a part of the archive with calculations on several groups. By the way, they turned out to be more accurate and more detailed than those they had.
I knew two dozen people who were involved in murders professionally. Most of them are already dead, almost all of them are alive, except for two who are missing. This, by the way, indicates that the authorities have people who know how to fight crime. I think I won’t reveal the secret if I say that psychologists didn’t really work with any of them. Perhaps at the Serbsky Institute at the commission for about five minutes, and then for the sake of formality. In all the works where I read about the psychology of such a “profession,” I found only descriptions of what killers should be like. That is, something close to a certain standard. Everyone I met was no more than 50 percent similar to what was described. Let me not say that they were not much alike. Of course, the reasons why they took up their craft are far from the same. Maybe this will be frank: the vast majority of them had almost nothing to do with either special structures or the army. Some didn't even serve.Let me emphasize that a person who becomes a killer is definitely destined for a hole in the forest or a prison.
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In the photo he (on the right) is posing with Andrei PYLEV against the backdrop of Spanish beauty (1995) |
- How long do you have left to sit?
I was arrested on February 2, 2006. For Americans, it's Groundhog Day. Here I'm talking more about the film. Many in prison compare being there precisely with the misfortune that befell the main character: every day is like the previous one... So, I was arrested in 2006, and release, if the Lord gives, in 2029. The main thing is to spend every day, every hour usefully, trying to fix at least something.
REFERENCE
* Alexey SHERSTOBITOV born in 1967 in Moscow.
* Hereditary officer, holder of the Order “For Personal Courage”.
* Was a member of a group of former employees of the GRU, KGB, Ministry of Internal Affairs as part of the Orekhovskaya and Medvedkovskaya organized crime groups, designed to collect, process and use information, as well as to physically eliminate special complexity.
* He has 12 proven murders and attempts.
Since childhood Alexey Sherstobitov I saw myself only as a military man. All his ancestors from the 7th generation considered it their duty to wear shoulder straps. The parents prepared the boy for the same fate, teaching him to deftly handle weapons as a child. Alexey will then far surpass the entire family clan taken together in professional skill. True, at first he chose for himself a rather peaceful branch of the military - railway, and graduated from a specialized military school.
The curriculum of a military railway worker does not include subjects such as conspiracy, organization of surveillance and the manufacture of explosive devices, but Alexey Sherstobitov later proved himself to be a master in these applied disciplines, and the certified specialists are former officers of the GRU, KGB and internal troops, only served him.
Having not finished playing “Zarnitsa” and spies in childhood, over-aged children, who had completely forgotten about the oath to serve the Motherland, enthusiastically indulged in their favorite pastime, leaving behind corpses and often adding their remains to the rows of grave mounds in cemeteries.
In the ranks of well-known organized crime groups
The beginning of the officer career of a born military man took place on the Moscow railway. After the service, Sherstobitov went to gym, where he intensively “pulled” iron in the company of powerlifters. One of them, “Grinya,” through a friend, knew the leader of the Orekhovskaya organized crime group, Sylvester, and made his living guarding retail outlets. Having explained the material benefits of such an occupation to the young officer, he suggested that he give up his family traditions and, for the first time, start guarding several stalls.
Alexey Sherstobitov’s probationary period was quite successful, and then he joined the ranks of the Medvedkovskaya organized crime group. There he was offered a higher-paying profession - a killer. From Alexey Sherstobitov he turned into “Lesha the Soldier”. For his debut, the newly minted killer chose a grenade launcher. The victim was supposed to be a certain Filin, a rather “murky” person who served in a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and, at the same time, was involved in shady affairs, thanks to which the owners of mouse-colored jackets were popularly called “garbage.” Excitement let the debutant down a little. The grenade hit the car, but did not cause much damage to the victim's health.
The first customer for Lesha-Soldat was. The “Orekhovskys” were friends with the “Medvedkovskys” and the boss eliminated the unwanted ones with the help of another group, confusing the future investigation. The second case of Alexey Sherstobitov went down in the history of perestroika times. An iconic figure in business, public life and crime was sent to the next world. A shot from a sniper rifle had completely interrupted the successful life. Another criminal general was luckier. He was seriously injured, but survived the explosion of an entire car with explosives in 2004, but a little girl who happened to be nearby did not.
After this mistake, “Lesha the Soldier” somewhat calmed down his passion for technically complex assassinations and switched to the classics. He fled with the Greenies to Ukraine to wait until the passions associated with the murder of their patron Sylvester on September 13, 1994 subsided in Moscow. Sherstobitov’s new acquaintances, the siblings “Maloy” and “Sanych” offered him their protection, but to begin fruitful cooperation it was necessary to eliminate their former boss “Grinya”, which was masterfully performed with a sniper rifle.
Working for the Pylev brothers
“Grinya” remained in a coma for 3 days, after which Ukrainian resuscitators turned off the devices that ensured the still glimmering life of the former KGB officer.
The criminal brothers kept their promise and gave three ex-officers of Russian law enforcement agencies to help the killer. “Lesha the Soldier” had to come close to the next victim to shoot him in the head. She became the owner of the capital's entertainment establishment "Dolls" Joseph Glotser, who very recklessly quarreled with the famous, but who turned out to be a very vindictive businessman Alexander Tarantsev.
This happened in 2007. A year later, Alexey Sherstobitov began the hunt for Tarantsev himself. The businessman turned out to be a tough nut to crack. The organization of his security and the professionalism of the security did not give Sherstobitov the slightest chance of success. After prolonged surveillance and much thought, “Lesha the Soldier” strained all his imagination and began constructing an “infernal machine” that had no analogues in history from an ordinary VAZ “four”.
In the car he placed a machine gun and a drive for a remote firing control system. Having parked the car opposite the entrance to the Russian Gold company and precisely positioned the sight, “Lesha the Soldier” disappeared from the eyes of those around him in the nearest gateway. A small technical problem saved Tarantsev’s life that day. The machine did not respond to the radio signal sent by the killer. But after 2 hours, he spontaneously fired a burst at a company security guard who had left the premises for fresh air.
Alexey Sherstobitov could become the performer of another historical action. In 1997, he was sent by his leaders to Greece to search for the “Terminator” Alexander Thessaloniki. He, sensing something was wrong, wanted to take countermeasures and kill “Maly” and “Sanych”. As a result, he was eliminated by another soldier - “Sasha the Soldier”.
The fate of Thessaloniki taught Alexey Sherstobitov a lot. First of all, the ability to leave the game in time. At the end of the 90s, he curtailed his bloody business and disappeared. Investigators did not have a single lead in the investigation of contract killings. “Lesha the Soldier” always carefully disguised himself, used makeup, wigs, and thought through escape options. Conspiracy helped him create the opinion that his name, which operatives sometimes heard, was just a beautiful legend; no “Lesha the Soldier” existed. In fact, he made one fatal mistake - he did not carry out a complete “cleanup” before leaving. Attempts to protect your future life Alexey Sherstobitov, of course, took action by removing his not very reliable assistant Chip, a former “pearbag,” out of fear that his continuous drunkenness could loosen his tongue.
Lesha Soldier is no longer a myth
In 2003, during interrogation, “Maloy” split, revealing to the investigators a lot of what he knew about Sherstobitov and his affairs. He even offered to find the killer and hand him over to the authorities. “Lesha the Soldier” materialized from oblivion. After 2 years, one of the arrested members recalled personal grievances against the former killer.
Andrey Koligov is the leader of the Kurgan organized crime group. It was he who handed the Soldier over to investigators
There is more than enough information. The inevitable arrest of the criminal became a matter of technique. At the beginning of 2006, Alexey Sherstobitov was arrested in the visiting hall of the Botkin Hospital. The investigators' surprise knew no bounds. A modest plasterer from one of the construction sites appeared before their eyes. In the end, the career military man preferred a trowel to a rifle and chose for himself the most peaceful profession of a builder.
The court in 2 stages sentenced Alexey Sherstobitov to 23 years of strict regime. The trial drew a line under the list of his victims. In the final version, there are 12 people. The judges took into account the active repentance of the defendant, his complete departure from crime, and several episodes of his cases, in which they saw the beginnings of humanity, when he filtered the identities of his possible victims and refused to carry out the order.
Left - Sergei Elizarov, right - killer Alexey Sherstobitov
The parents of “Lekha the Soldier” made a big mistake. They did not need to “brainwash” the child with the heroic past of their last name, but to discern his ability to create. In prison for 3 years, Alexey Sherstobitov showed the skills of a prolific writer of the detective genre, publishing 3 of his novels through intermediaries: “The Liquidator” in 2 parts, “Skin of the Devil” and “Someone else’s Wife”.
In June of this year, he still proved himself to be a master of shocking. To register their marriage with a fan of their work, which took place within the walls of the Lipetsk colony, the newlyweds came dressed in the style of gangster fashion from the times of American Prohibition.
