The Basmanny district court in Moscow has sent 30 people to pretrial detention over a shoot-out earlier this week in central Moscow at the offices of Wildberries, the country's largest online retailer, that left two people dead.
The group includes a Chechen mixed martial arts fighter, according to TASS and RIA Novosti, but the husband of Wildberries CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk said he was not among those detained.
Vladislav Bakalchuk said on Telegram on September 20 that he was the victim of a “cynical provocation and attack by unknown armed men” when he and others went to the office of Wildberries on the day of the shooting “with peaceful intentions to resolve issues related to payments to employees and contractors” and other business matters.
Tatyana Bakalchuk -- Russia's richest woman -- described the events as an armed takeover attempt by her estranged husband and two disgruntled former executives.
SEE ALSO: Deadly Shoot-Out Ups Ante In Bitter Divorce Roiling 'Russia's Amazon'She released a tearful video message on September 18 accusing her husband of organizing the attack.
Vladislav Bakalchuk's lawyers said the following day that their client had been charged with murder, attempted murder, and other charges as a result of the violence.
But on September 20, Vladislav Bakalchuk said in his Telegram post that he was home after his attempt to "peacefully resolve" the situation had turned into a tragedy.
“I am sure that the authorities will sort out what happened, and all those responsible will be punished. I am ready to provide assistance and support to all victims. I am glad to be back home and continue fighting for justice,” Vladislav Bakalchuk said.
Responding to his wife's video, he said, “Tatyana, did you really not know about the armed provocation being prepared against me?”
The shoot-out came just over six weeks after Wildberries finalized its merger agreement with Russ Group, a Russian advertising firm. Vladislav Bakalchuk denounced the deal as a huge mistake and a hostile takeover.
Tatyana Bakalchuk (file photo)
Tatyana Bakalchuk filed for divorce in July after her husband asked the authoritarian ruler of the North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, for help in a conflict with his wife.
Among the men remanded into custody was Umar Chichayev, a mixed martial arts fighter and deputy commander of a national guard unit linked to Kadyrov, according to Russian news agencies.
"The court granted the petition of law enforcement agencies and remanded Chichayev in custody for one month and 30 days," the Basmanny district court ruled, according to TASS.
Media reports identified the two men killed in the incident as Islambek Elmurziyev, 28, and Adam Almazov, 41. Both were from the North Caucasus region of Ingushetia.
Tatyana Bakalchuk, 48, was born to an ethnic Korean family in October 1975 in Grozny, then the capital of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Forbes estimates her worth at more than $4 billion.
Wildberries has benefited from sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine as Western e-commerce firms pulled out of the country.
Company revenue jumped 70 percent last year to 539 billion rubles ($5.8 billion) while its net profit rose to 19 billion rubles ($205 million).
Tatyana Bakalchuk was the sole owner of her empire until December 2019, when she transferred 1 percent of her business to her husband.