Vladislav Bakalchuk, the husband of Russia's richest woman, Tatyana Bakalchuk, has been detained for 48 hours after a deadly shoot-out at the offices of Wildberries, the country's largest online retailer, founded and led by his estranged wife.
Bakalchuk's lawyers said on September 19 that their client was charged with murder, attempted murder, attacking a law enforcement officer, and the "forcible assertion of private right" as a result of the violence a day earlier.
The lawyers added that Bakalchuk had rejected all of the charges and considers them "absurd."
According to the lawyers, Bakalchuk insists that he and his people, including a lawyer, came to the Wildberries offices on September 18 for talks with his wife and her team to resolve business-related differences.
The Bakalchuks, who have seven children, are currently in the process of a divorce.
The Investigative Committee said hours after the incident that left two security guards dead and seven people, including two police officers, wounded, that it had launched an investigation into the "elements of crimes" -- including murder, the attempted murder of two or more people, illegal weapons possession, the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, and the "forcible assertion of private right."
The press service of Wildberries said Vladislav Bakalchuk and several other men tried to "illegally break into" the offices of the company at two locations at the same time.
Tatyana Bakalchuk said on Telegram on September 19 that her company was mourning the deaths "of our guys," adding that the families of the deceased men will receive "necessary support."
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.
The Ostorozhno, Moskva Telegram channel reported on September 18 that 10 people allegedly involved in the standoff -- some of whom are thought to be ethnic Chechens -- were detained at the site.
The RIA Novosti news agency quoted law enforcement officials as saying that a total of around 30 people were detained and taken in for questioning after the incident.
Tatyana Bakalchuk, 48, is the richest woman in Russia. She 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 filed for divorce after her husband asked the Kremlin-backed authoritarian leader of the North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, for help in a conflict with his wife in July, claiming plans to merge Wildberries with Russ Group were harmful for the company and amounted to a hostile takeover.
Tatyana Bakalchuk was the sole owner of her empire until December 2019, when she transferred 1 percent of her business to her husband.
She is believed to have ties to powerful political figures in the Russian government, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his first deputy, Denis Manturov.
Russia experienced a wave of armed business raids in the turbulent decade immediately following the collapse of communism as groups fought over valuable former state assets. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there has been a reversal, with the state seizing ownership of not only former state assets but private businesses launched after 1991.