From the shooting in the stairwell to government agencies and the State Duma: how the participants in Vladislav Listyev’s murder integrated into legal structures and evaded justice

03 марта 2026 г., 13:57

380     0

From the shooting in the stairwell to government agencies and the State Duma: how the participants in Vladislav Listyev’s murder integrated into legal structures and evaded justice

How the organizer and perpetrator of the murder of TV journalist Vladislav Listyev on March 1, 1995, are living now.

And the "client" has not even left the TV screens. All of them had long been established, but due to political arrangements, they are not being touched. The biographies of those involved in the high-profile murder of the public’s favorite Vladislav Listyev fit the typical 1990s scenario. As our project wrote earlier, after the murder all involved left the country. Almost all of them spent some time abroad and then quietly returned to Russia.

For example, the hitman Andrey Ageykin, who directly shot the general director of ORT. He changed several official jobs — worked in private security companies and even in a shooting club. But most likely this was a cover, and the killer cared little about income. His funds came from completely different sources — the "clients of the murder". Immediately after the journalist’s shooting, Ageykin’s wife acquired an apartment in Taganka. Earlier, we wrote that in recent years Andrey Ageykin unofficially served as a security guard responsible for the safety of a relative of a major criminal authority, who also controlled the business center "Delo". At the same time, on paper he was listed as the director of LLC "Novoselye".

It is obvious that the owner specifically placed him in a "side" company in a managerial position. But the connection still remained visible. Ageykin’s employer, the company "Novoselye", was linked to the business center not only territorially (earlier LLC was registered at the address of the center on Varshavskoe Highway), but also through its management. In the company "Novoselye", before Andrey Ageykin, the director was Roman Kislyak, who at one time was the director of the business center "Delo". But after our publication in 2024, Ageykin’s career path sharply changed. The hitman left the commercial structure of LLC "Novoselye", where he was CEO, and got a job in... the Infrastructure Directorate of the Moscow Metro.

The media managed to find the nephew of Andrey Ageykin — the son of the second participant in Vladislav Listyev’s murder, hitman Alexander Ageykin, who died under strange circumstances in Israel. Today he is a high-ranking official in the authorities of the Moscow region. The second figure, to whom attention returned on the anniversary of Vladislav Listyev’s murder, is Igor Dashdamirov. His biography after the 1990s was built first through the funeral business, and then through the commercial structures of the Solntsevskaya organized crime group.

As we wrote earlier, after Dashdamirov’s business, connected with the funeral sphere, collapsed following the massacre at Khovanskoye Cemetery (all legal entities where Dashdamirov was involved were liquidated), no new records in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities appeared with his name. But, as it turned out, since 2023 Igor Dashdamirov is listed as a driver in LLC "Rynok" (Naro-Fominsk district, Moscow region). There he receives a minimum "white" salary of 21 to 41 thousand rubles per month. Interestingly, a simple cab driver’s bosses are his colleagues from the Solntsevskaya OCG. At least two co-founders of LLC "Rynok" have long been revealed members of the gang, as is Igor Dashdamirov.

The co-owners of the company are: one of the leaders of the Solntsevskaya OCG, Alexander Vashchenko, known as Vasha. And another Solntsevskaya gangster — Alexander Dubov. He was involved in a robbery case at an office on Bolotnikovskaya Street in Moscow. The largest share of the business belongs to the wife of a well-known footballer and coach, Evgeny Kharlachev, who was friendly with the gang leaders.

Earlier, the media published a "fresh" photo of Andrey Ageykin, who, together with his brother Alexander, on March 1, 1995, ambushed Listyev in the entrance of his house on Novokuznetskaya and shot him. After that, they were sent to lay low in Israel. Alexander Ageykin was the "weakest link" in the group of hitmen. Besides being on drugs, he was tormented by pangs of conscience. He told his acquaintances that he regretted Listyev’s murder, he felt sorry for this person. At interrogations, he clearly would not have stayed silent.

As a result, he was found dead in one of the hotels in Israel. The official cause of death — overdose. Unofficial — elimination of the "weak link". It was believed that the other perpetrator of Listyev’s murder, Andrey Ageykin, disappeared and is also long dead.

After lying low, he quietly returned to Russia. We also showed what Igor Dashdamirov (Dushman) — the organizer of Vladislav Listyev’s murder — looks like. He was the one who sent the hitmen to the TV journalist.

And the "client" of the murder, Sergey Lisovsky, is now a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The investigator found that Sergey Lisovsky and the "authority" of the Solntsevskaya OCG, Igor Dashdamirov (Dushman), were introduced by the leader of this group, Sergey Mikhailov (Mikhas). Lisovsky and Dashdamirov themselves denied any acquaintance or even communication with each other during interrogations.

However, during one of the searches, Lisovsky’s notebook was seized, in which Dushman’s phone number was found. Witnesses saw them together. Under the pressure of evidence, Lisovsky and Dashdamirov admitted the fact of their acquaintance. It was established that before Listyev’s murder, they had met several times.

It was also established that during this period Dushman met with the brigadiers of the Solntsevskaya group, for whom the hitmen brothers Alexander and Andrey Ageykin worked. They were the executors of the murder. Dashdamirov left Russia after the murder and in 1996 was detained in Georgia. However, there was a political decision (Lisovsky himself was a sponsor of Yeltsin’s election campaign, organized events for it, etc.) not to bring the "Listyev case" to an end, so after extradition to Russia, Dashdamirov was only charged with rape, he received 3.5 years in prison and was released in 1999. Let us once again recall who and why killed the most famous journalist. Based on the case materials, we start with what the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation was able to establish (it is leading the investigation).

From witness statements and operational materials, the following picture of the event emerged. By 1995, "Pervaya Knopka" (Channel One) was leading a rather poor existence, despite abundant advertising. The whole point was that advertising on the country’s main channel went through intermediary firms completely controlled by two businessmen — Sergey Lisovsky and Boris Zosimov. The lion’s share of revenue went to them. The first was also well-connected in the Kremlin; in 1996 he became a member of Boris Yeltsin’s presidential campaign headquarters and organized the nationwide campaign "Vote or Lose".

"The eye" on ORT was also placed by Boris Berezovsky. He did not intend to "settle" for just access to advertising money. The oligarch wanted to capture the entire channel and began to implement yet another cunning scheme. First, Berezovsky convinced Yeltsin to corporatize the main TV channel. Then he made an unusual move — proposed appointing Vladislav Listyev as the head of ORT.

Boris Abramovich was absolutely sure that with the beloved of all Russia under his control, the channel would soon be in his pocket. According to the media, as usual in such "games", Berezovsky went into the shadows, taking the role of a puppeteer. He wanted the extremely unpleasant decisions for Lisovsky to come solely from Listyev. So that in case of anything he could shrug: "What can I do, it’s all Vlad’s problem."

After all, Berezovsky and Lisovsky had many years of close communication and even rather scandalous hobbies, which our publication reported. As a result, Listyev initiated a procedure of complete withdrawal of ORT from advertising. And after this pause, completely different players, not Lisovsky and Zosimov, were supposed to receive advertising money. For the latter, this was equivalent to a catastrophe. All their other business projects were aimed at advertising money and were budgeted accordingly.

The collapse of their business empires would have begun. The General Prosecutor’s Office established that Lisovsky and Zosimov repeatedly met with Listyev, urging him not to take rash steps. Lisovsky was a dangerous man; his "enemies" were sent to the next world more than once. But Listyev was sure that he, the favorite of the entire country, would not be touched. He discussed his steps with his close circle — Konstantin Ernst, Leonid Yakubovich, Alexander Lyubimov.

The latter not only convinced Vladislav that he was great and "immortal", but also promoted the idea to "trick" Berezovsky. After the "pause", to take the entire advertising market for themselves, especially since they had their own advertising agency "InterVID". And then perhaps the entire channel could be "subdued". As a result, Listyev openly "dismissed" Lisovsky and Zosimov. And, most importantly, Berezovsky cooled towards him, realizing that Listyev did not turn out to be a puppet.

But Berezovsky was practically the "guardian angel" of Listyev. Bypassing Boris Abramovich, Lisovsky would not have dared to take any action against the TV host. The situation heated up daily. As a result, Lisovsky met with Listyev, and they had a very unpleasant conversation, with direct threats already sounding. This is recorded in the case. Listyev told a close friend about the unpleasant meeting with Lisovsky. Soon after this conversation, Lisovsky went to Berezovsky (also recorded in the case).

Berezovsky refused to testify about the essence of this conversation. According to some data, Lisovsky explained his position in the conflict with Listyev and that Listyev put him in a deadlock. And Boris Abramovich, so to speak, "washed his hands". He said to Lisovsky: "Do as you see fit." And Berezovsky guessed how Lisovsky would act. But in his new plan, changing the CEO of ORT was only to the benefit. And the plan worked. Berezovsky eventually managed to seize the TV channel. Only then did Vladislav Listyev realize that besides "popular love," he had no substantial protection and his life was under threat.

On February 28, 1995, he met with Berezovsky. (The oligarch initially denied this meeting during interrogations, later, under pressure of evidence, admitted it but refused to disclose its essence). On March 1, early in the morning, Berezovsky flew to London on a charter plane.

On the same day, Listyev was shot in the entrance of his own house on Novokuznetskaya Street. Vladislav was "led" from his workplace when two men came down to meet him. They drew a pistol and a submachine gun. The first bullet hit Listyev in the shoulder. He ran up the stairs but was immediately caught. The second bullet hit his head and was fatal. During the investigation, the perpetrators were quickly identified.

They were brothers Alexander and Andrey Ageykin. From them, such a "chain" emerged. The brothers were part of the Solntsevskaya gang’s crew, headed by gangsters Mikhail Kudin (Kvakin) and Andrey Skrylev (Skryl). Both reported to the "authority" of the Solntsevskaya gang Igor Dashdamirov (Dushman). And Dashdamirov, as recorded in the case, is a longtime and good friend of Sergey Lisovsky. Bingo. It seemed the case was solved.

It remained only to detain the suspects and secure evidence. Immediately after Listyev’s murder, all case figures left Russia. In particular, the Ageykin brothers flew to Israel. Preparations began for an operation to detain them, but a leak occurred at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As a result, the weaker and talkative Alexander Ageykin was found dead in Tel Aviv. Allegedly he died of a drug overdose. Andrey Ageykin disappeared from Israel. Skryl met the same fate.

He was found dead in Europe — allegedly also from an overdose. However, in the summer of 1996, Igor Dashdamirov was detained in Georgia. And then the following happened. Lisovsky was involved in Yeltsin’s election headquarters? So Tatiana Dyachenko (Yumasheva), the president’s daughter, considered that the intended arrest of Lisovsky was an "undermining" against her father. Lisovsky was in the election campaign and funded Yeltsin’s campaign.

That’s how she "put it into Yeltsin’s ears". And he imposed a categorical ban on Lisovsky’s arrest and further investigation against him. As a result, a paradoxical situation arose: there is a fully solved case of the most high-profile murder of the 1990s, but no one was charged. As for Boris Berezovsky, his role was also determined in the case. He knew that Listyev was about to be killed but did nothing. However, he himself was not the client or organizer of the crime. The same role was assigned to Boris Zosimov.

However, there is some ambiguity with him. Probably, he did know about the planned reprisal, since it also involved his money. As for Sergey Lisovsky, he did not go to prison and, apparently, never will. The reason is that Lisovsky can be compared to Epstein. Since the 1990s he has provided specific services to the elites, including supplying girls of "the right age". He can organize it so that the boldest fantasies of the elite are satisfied.

Here is one of the conversations from the archive of Berezovsky’s wiretaps. The oligarch asks Lisovsky to organize his evening leisure. Notice that Berezovsky repeatedly explains to Lisovsky that girls of a certain age are needed. Lisovsky felt comfortable under Yeltsin and came in handy for Putin. He served as a senator, and is now a deputy of the State Duma. An interesting aspect of this whole story is the role of Listyev’s close circle — Ernst, Yakubovich. They all perfectly knew about the conflict between Listyev and Lisovsky and even pushed the host towards it.

But at interrogations, they all remained silent and categorically refused to talk about Lisovsky. Lisovsky himself tried to mislead the investigation, reducing the murder to a domestic version. Listyev had a romance with a girl who was simultaneously involved with a rather vicious "authority", who had numerous human lives on his account. The "authority" gave his men the order to eliminate Vladislav.

Then officers of the 10th Department of Moscow RUBOP and SOBR detained a group of professional killers in Central Asia, led by Andrey Chelyshev. They carried out numerous high-profile crimes, including the assassination of St. Petersburg Deputy Mayor Mikhail Manevich.

A specially chartered plane was used to transport them to Moscow. And here, during interrogations, Andrey Chelyshev unexpectedly confessed to killing Listyev and gave detailed testimony.

The General Prosecutor’s Office began to verify it, which took quite some time. It then became clear that Chelyshev was lying and leading the investigation down a false trail. But why did he do it? Soon it became clear. It turned out that the head of the 10th Department of RUBOP, Vitaly Serdyukov, studied together with Sergey Lisovsky and they are longtime friends. Lisovsky paid for the plane to transport Chelyshev’s group.

At the same time, he was persuaded to "take on" Listyev and thus divert the General Prosecutor’s Office from the real perpetrators and "clients" of the murder. At the end, we publish a couple more records from the BAB wiretap archive, made a year after Listyev’s murder. In the first recording, an outraged Ernst complains that Malashenko "hangs" a TV show about Yeltsin, stylized as "Old Songs About the Main Thing". "Lisovsky told me, you, ORT, will film all this.

Lisovsky has no money. On what money is unclear. It will be crap, we are risking. Malashenko is setting us up. Go to hell… I don’t obey him. I don’t handle concerts… There will be no real "Old Songs". Artists don’t want to go to Lisovsky. Malashenko says you must show this. Go to hell…" — Ernst complains.

At the same time, he only asks not to pass anything to Lisovsky. However, it later turned out that sending Malashenko away was impossible, since he was authorized for such work by the president. In the next recording, Patarkatsishvili tries to delicately convey this to Ernst.

In return, he offers a reward from the authorities in the form of free accommodation at a state dacha. You won’t believe it, but under Yeltsin, TV managers did not have palaces on Rublevka worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And the opportunity to live at a state dacha was a significant bonus for them.