Emergency workers at the Romanov Dvor business centre. Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/TASS
Background to the conflict surrounding Wildberries
It could be said that “nothing was foretold”, but… after all, it was foretold!
The conflict between Vladislav Bakalchuk and his wife, Russia’s richest woman Tatyana Bakalchuk, has become increasingly acute in recent months. It all started when Tatyana left home in the spring and then filed for divorce.
It later emerged that Wildberries would merge with Russia’s largest outdoor advertising operator, Russ, into a single company, RVB.
And in July, Vladislav did not even wash his dirty linen in public, but kicked him out: he recorded a video with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. The interlocutors called the merger of companies a “takeover by a raider” and called for “Tatyana to be returned to her family.”
Tatyana commented on all this simply: “This is not a raider takeover, it is a scam.” And Vladislav knew about the merger of companies and participated in the signing of documents.
However, the husband (yes, the couple are not divorced yet) of the richest woman in Russia continued the offensive. In every sense of the word. Rapper Timati and producer Joseph Prigozhin recorded a video in her support. And he himself has developed unprecedented activity on social networks.
Shots were fired near the Romanov Dvor business centre in Moscow. Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/TASS
Shooting at Wildberries office: what happened
And on the evening of September 18, he appeared at the Wildberries head office in Moscow’s Romanov Dvor business center. As Vladislav later said, he came “to negotiate peace.” True, for some reason he was not alone or with a lawyer, but accompanied by a crowd of athletes – champions of Russia and Europe in various types of martial arts. No wonder they refused to let such an “unusual” company into the office. Word for word…
The first shots were fired at 12:25. The shooting lasted about three minutes. A fire alarm sounded in the business centre and the Russian National Guard quickly arrived on the scene.
According to the latest information, 30 people were involved in the conflict and around 100 security forces separated them.
Two security guards at the business centre were killed. Eight people were injured, including a police officer who was wounded in the leg.
Among the victims are Russian master of the sport of pankration (a type of martial art that combines wrestling and fist fighting techniques) and karate in all styles Abubakar Mestoev, European and world champion in taekwondo, master of the sport of kickboxing Umar Chichaev, Russian heavyweight boxer champion Rashid Kodzev.
Three special police buses, two ambulances and one ambulance arrived at the scene. About 30 people were taken to the police station.
Several detainees are known to have resisted law enforcement officers. A criminal case has been opened under three articles: “Murder”, “Invasion of the life of a law enforcement officer” and “Illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, shipment or carrying of weapons”.
Vladislav Bakalchuk himself was not injured in the shooting. He left the WB headquarters, accompanied by security and his lawyer. Meanwhile, employees of Wildberries’ capital and Moscow offices were urgently transferred to remote work. At the height of the armed conflict, employees of the business center and students of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University were evacuated. Lomonosov, who lives next door, was locked in the faculty building for security reasons.
Attack on two Wildberries offices in Moscow
It later emerged that the “invasion” was planned not in one, but in two Wildberries offices. The press service of the United Company Wildberries and Russ reported on the details on the evening of September 18.
We quote his message:
“Today, September 18, an armed attack was carried out on several offices of the company in Moscow at once: in the Romanov Dvor business center in Romanov Lane and in the Iskra Park business center near the Dynamo metro station. With the direct participation and under the direction of Vladislav Bakalchuk, law enforcement officers and security officers of the company’s office in the Romanov Dvor business center were injured.
Unfortunately, it has become known that two people who were ensuring the security of the office in the Romanov Dvor business centre have died. On behalf of the company, we offer our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims. Their families will receive all necessary support.
We would like to thank all law enforcement officers, the security of the business centre and the company’s security service for their professionalism. Only thanks to their actions were more serious consequences avoided.
We also express our gratitude to all those who support the company and our employees during such a difficult time. We hope that those responsible for this act of aggression will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
According to the press service, this is what happened in the office of the Iskra-Park business center:
“A group of people in sports military uniform, some of them wearing masks, entered the Wildberries office in the Iskra-Park business center near the Dynamo metro station today. According to eyewitnesses, there were about 30-40 people there. The attackers broke in. They opened the door and severely beat the security guard. Together with them, Vladislav’s friends Sergey Anufriev and Vladimir Bakin (former members of the Wildberries management, – Ed.), as well as a group of lawyers in business suits. Some of them demanded a meeting with the company’s lawyers and financiers. At the time of the seizure of this office, the company’s employees were quickly evacuated and found themselves safe. An hour and a half later, a group of attackers was driven off the territory by security forces and police.
And this is how Wildberries commented on Bakalchuk’s words that he had reached “peace negotiations”:
“Vladislav Bakalchuk claimed that he came to the company’s office supposedly for a meeting on the topic of boycott by him and his company of the construction of logistics centers of Wildberries. We officially declare that this information is not true, no meetings with Vladislav were planned. In addition, we draw attention to the fact that the attack was carried out in several offices of the company at once. Judging by the video recordings of eyewitnesses published in the media, the armed persons accompanying Vladislav tried to enter the Romanov Dvor business center, including through broken windows. They were the first to open fire.
Vladislav does not have access to the company’s offices. He is not a member of Wildberries’ staff. As the owner of a 1% stake, he is only entitled to request documents.
Emotional appeal from Tatyana Bakalchuk
Some time after the Wildberries press service’s statement was published, Tatyana Bakalchuk posted a video on her Telegram channel. In it, she turned to Vladislav with tears in her eyes.
“Armed people broke into our office, started a shootout, a pogrom. Young people died. Vladislav, what are you doing? How are you going to look your parents and our children in the eye? How could you? How could you bring the situation to such absurdity?” – Tatyana said in her heart.
Tatiana Bakalchuk
Photo: Personal archive.
MEANWHILE
Vladislav Bakalchuk is not arrested
Information about Vladislav Bakalchuk’s alleged arrest has been circulating on social media. But his lawyers deny this:
“The information about his arrest, cited by lawyers, is false and untrue,” the statement said.
Vladislav Bakalchuk. Photo: kadyrov_95/t.me
BY THE WAY
Will all this affect the company’s work?
– Despite these events, all Wildberries services, delivery points and logistics facilities are functioning normally, current and new orders are being processed correctly and issued at our pick-up points. The situation did not affect the company’s work or its business processes, the press service reported.
