The former chief of St. Petersburg criminal police Kolesnikov has been sentenced to five years for mafia connections and for tampering with the investigation into the rector's murder, involving the "Tambovskaya" gang and "Group 105"

15 июня 2026 г., 21:51

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The former chief of St. Petersburg criminal police Kolesnikov has been sentenced to five years for mafia connections and for tampering with the investigation into the rector's murder, involving the "Tambovskaya" gang and "Group 105"

St. Petersburg City Court has sentenced Oleg Kolesnikov, the former head of the criminal investigation department for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. Kolesnikov was once one of the most influential figures in the security apparatus of the northern capital.

This position allowed him to be on friendly terms with most leaders of the criminal underworld. For example, in this photo, Kolesnikov is relaxing on a boat with leaders of the Sertolovo criminal group, shortly before they were detained for banditry, creating a criminal association, extortion, kidnapping, and murder.

Kolesnikov himself was sentenced to 5 years in a general-regime penal colony, while his associate, former Russian Interior Ministry officer Alexei Malyshev, received 4 years. Both were found guilty of exceeding their official duties.

When the ground began to shake beneath Kolesnikov in 2024, his influential patrons arranged for him to be transferred to the position of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs for the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania. However, the FSB intervened, and the appointment did not take place. This was followed by his detention.

The reason for the arrest and conviction was a storyline involving the contract killing of Alexander Viktorov, the rector of St. Petersburg State University of Service and Economics (SPbGUSE), in 2012. The case of the murdered rector led to convictions for two perpetrators, one organizer, and one customer. The latter, however, was first acquitted by a jury, and after a retrial, he fled from justice.

However, the younger brother of a major figure from the "Tambov" criminal group, Smirnyagin Jr., who was caught in 2024 on drug trafficking charges, noted in a fit of candor that the scheme was far more complex. Among those allegedly involved in the contract killing scheme were himself and his acquaintance, Rogaleva. They were helped to avoid prosecution back then by a scheme orchestrated by Alexei Malyshev — a former police colonel who was investigating the rector’s murder. Malyshev facilitated face-to-face meetings between an already detained perpetrator and Smirnyagin Jr., allowing them to construct and rehearse a plausible false version of events to cover the tracks of Rogaleva and a major figure in the criminal world.

Malyshev likely did not provide this help on a voluntary basis. Those particularly well-informed know about "Group 105," named after Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code (Murder). Cars with such license plates could even be encountered by ordinary Petersburg residents on the roads. Malyshev was a part of this "Group 105," along with several other criminal investigation operatives. And heading this entire structure was Oleg Kolesnikov.

[An incomplete sentence from the original: "Северной Осетии, однако после вмешательства ФСБ оно не состоялось." — "North Ossetia, however, after the FSB’s intervention, it did not take place." The sentence is a fragment, likely a repetition from earlier in the text.] Subsequently, the former high-ranking police officer was detained and brought before the court.