"Absolute wildness": what is known about the "private" underground prison near St. Petersburg

47news reported about a creepy building in a cottage village near St. Petersburg - an underground prison, presumably with a crematorium.

The investigation says that under the cottage in the Agalatovsky settlement of the Vsevolozhsky district of the Leningrad region there was a whole prison complex.

Local residents claim that the above-ground part of the building was erected around 2010.

Now the house itself is destroyed, and the premises under it are half flooded.

Judging by the photo, a concrete bunker under an inconspicuous cottage behind a high fence was built like a real pre-trial detention center - the pictures show several barred cells, bunks, and a security point.

The authors of the investigation believe that the "owners" of the underground prison wanted to make the "prisoners" believe that they were in a real state jail.

According to media reports, the cells in the makeshift prison were closed with the same locks as in the St. Petersburg "Kresty".

But the most terrifying find was a well located under the bathhouse for "prisoners" - at its bottom there was a stove that could fit an adult.

According to journalists, it could be used as a crematorium. 

47news calculated that the cost of a cottage with a "private prison" could reach half a million dollars.

An underground copy of a real prison.

Who needed it near St. Petersburg https://t.co/p50Xc4jWOBpic.twitter.com/OxFkkIFujC

- Internet edition 47news.ru (@ 47News_ru) July 19, 2021

Not a new find?

Soon after the publication of the publication about the "find" of journalists from the Leningrad region, it turned out that they were not the first to learn about the house with an underground prison in the Agalatovsky settlement.

A source in the regional Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs told RT that St. Petersburg investigators found and searched both the house and the bunker a year ago.

“In fact, this story is more than a year old.

Petersburg investigators during the investigation of the murder came to this address.

That is, both the prison and the cottage were found a long time ago.

Details about the progress of the investigation were not disclosed, "said the RT interlocutor in law enforcement agencies.

The Investigative Committee for the Leningrad Region confirmed that it became known about the underground bunker in the Agalatovsky settlement more than a year ago, but they could not provide details of that investigation.

Despite the fact that the law enforcement agencies refuse to say in what investigation the underground prison near St. Petersburg was discovered, some media outlets claim that we are talking about the investigation of the murder of businessman Badri Shengelia - in 2018, the entrepreneur's car was shot in the Leningrad region on the St. Petersburg-Petrozavodsk.

How security officials stumbled upon an underground prison.

Badri Shengelia is to blame https://t.co/SpXdTcWvvYpic.twitter.com/C6OFuGKEQd

- Internet edition 47news.ru (@ 47News_ru) July 19, 2021

Who is the owner of the "private prison"?

The authors of the investigation into an underground prison near St. Petersburg claim that the late captain of the Federal Penitentiary Service Renat Alimzanov and a man named Escobar allegedly owned the cottage in the Agalatov settlement at different times.

Until 2004, Alimzanov served in the operative department of the Petersburg SIZO No. 4, and after retiring, he founded a private security company and a company that provided services for the demolition and dismantling of buildings.

The man, whom journalists consider the first owner of a cottage with an underground prison, died in 2018 at the age of 51.

In the 47news investigation, citing Rosreestr data, it is said that several other entrepreneurs were listed as the owners of the cottage, but the authors of the material are sure that they were the owners of the specified site only in name.

The last owner of the land with a cottage and an underground prison, journalists call a certain Escobar.

Until the 2010s, the man bore the surname Mkrtychan.

Some media outlets claim that in 2004 Mkrtychan was allegedly convicted of holding a person hostage.

As RT found out, we are talking about a case that then caused a wide public outcry - several naval sailors from Kronstadt and civilians were detained for kidnapping, robbery and extortion.

They kidnapped a certain Dolgov and, under threats and torture, forced him to re-register his apartment with one of his accomplices.

Mkrtychan, according to court documents, worked as a security guard, and was also among the defendants in the case.

However, the court did not find convincing evidence of his participation in the crime. 

“From the testimony of D. it follows that when the extortion was committed, Mkrtychan was not present.

In the health complex Mkrtychan did not commit any violent actions, did not express threats or complaints.

Mkrtychan was not present when registering an apartment with a notary.

D. cannot categorically assert that the phrase “bring the car closer” was addressed specifically to Mkrtychan.

There is no convincing evidence that such a car belonged to Mkrtychan, ”the court file says.

As a result, Artur Mkrtychan was acquitted.

Earlier, the man, according to media reports, was convicted of robbery.

According to data from open sources, the man also acted as a plaintiff several times in cases of collecting funds under loan agreements, and on the FSSP website, a man named Arthur Escobar is in arrears for non-payment of vehicle tax.

From the captain of the FSIN to Escobar.

Where an underground prison and a crematorium are hidden near St. Petersburg https://t.co/8CTzwaTTFRpic.twitter.com/bsyv5cERLY

- Internet edition 47news.ru (@ 47News_ru) July 19, 2021

Mkrtychan's lawyer: "He has nothing to do with this"

RT connected with the lawyer and longtime friend of Mkrtychan Boris Babushkin - he represented his interests at the trial of holding a person hostage in 2004.

Babushkin told RT that Mkrtychan had nothing to do with the cottage discovered in a village near St. Petersburg.

The lawyer also clarified that he was not familiar with the journalistic investigation of the underground prison found there in detail.

“I know him (Artur Mkrtychan. - 

RT

) very well.

He had nothing to do with the story of being held hostage in 2004, the crime was committed by his acquaintances - they were sentenced to prison terms.

And he has nothing to do with the story of the cottage.

He never had any cottage in that area, he never even visited that area, ”the source said.

Mkrtychan's lawyer added that his friend really changed his last name - however, according to Babushkin, there is nothing criminal in this.

“He really has the surname Escobar now.

The fact is that he has been living in Spain for some time, so he took such a surname so that it would be convenient for him to live there, '' the lawyer explained.

- He now lives here (in Russia. - 

RT

), then in Spain.

He visits Kronstadt and St. Petersburg, sometimes he comes. " 

Babushkin told RT that he has known Mkrtychan for a long time and still often communicates with him.

In an interview with RT, the lawyer spoke extremely positively about his acquaintance.

“He is a good person, wonderful, executive - if he said something, he always does it.

He is a good son, a good husband, a good father.

We met a long time ago, the acquaintance was associated with my professional activity - I have been his lawyer for many years, ”Babushkin said.

His lawyer could not tell about the professional activities and business of Arthur Escobar - he explained, "everything related to economic matters is not information for disclosure."

"Private prisons" in Russia

According to the former head of the FSB DSP, Alexander Mikhailov, in his practice "private prisons" like the one found near St. Petersburg were found only in the North Caucasus.

In central Russia, he did not come across such a thing. 

“There have been such prisons in the North Caucasus; abducted people were housed in them.

For certain feudal states, private prisons are not new.

But the fact that it is in St. Petersburg is absolute savagery.

Although, of course, there were all sorts of perverts who imprisoned people, drove them into slavery and built some kind of houses for them, "said the interlocutor of RT.

According to Mikhailov, such "prisons" usually contain either bandits or people with mental disorders.

“We must proceed from the fact that, as a rule, such things happen only to people with mental abnormalities, or to outright villains for whom human life means nothing.

These are obvious anomalies.

Moreover, there was also a crematorium there, ”says a former law enforcement officer.

Mikhailov expressed the opinion that the police are obliged to conduct a thorough check on the discovery of an underground prison near St. Petersburg.

At the same time, the interlocutor of RT fears that certain procedural difficulties may arise with this.

“In order to conduct a quality check, it is necessary to decide who the victim is,” Mikhailov explained. - In general, all procedural actions are carried out at the request of the victim. It will be difficult to prove that there

really was something

there (in prison -

RT

). However, if the alleged owners of that site are known, I think we need to take action. Of course, this is a pretext for a preliminary check and then for the initiation of a criminal case ”.