Former head of St. Petersburg criminal investigation department Kolesnikov sentenced to five years in prison

The Saint Petersburg City Court has issued a verdict against the former head of the criminal investigation department of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Oleg Kolesnikov, who was once one of the most influential figures in the city’s security apparatus.

This position allowed him to be on close terms with most leaders of the criminal underworld. For example, in the photo, Kolesnikov is seen relaxing on a boat with leaders of the Sertolovo criminal group shortly before their arrest on charges of banditry, creation of a criminal organization, extortion, kidnapping, and murder.

Kolesnikov himself was sentenced to 5 years in a general-regime penal colony, while his associate, former Interior Ministry officer Alexey Malyshev, received 4 years. Both were found guilty of abuse of office.

As reported by VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info, when the ground started to shake under Kolesnikov in 2024, his influential patrons arranged for him to be transferred to the position of deputy minister of the Interior of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania. However, the Federal Security Service (FSB) intervened, and the appointment did not take place. This was followed by his arrest.

The trigger for the arrest and conviction was a case related to the contract killing of SPbSUE rector Alexander Viktorov in 2012. The case of the murdered rector led to convictions of two hitmen, one organizer, and one mastermind. The latter was initially acquitted by a jury, but after a retrial he fled from justice.

However, Smirnyagin Jr., the younger brother of a major figure in the “Tambov” criminal group, who was arrested in 2024 on drug trafficking charges, reportedly made confessions revealing that the scheme was far more complex. Among others involved in the murder scheme were himself and his acquaintance Rogaleva. And their avoidance of prosecution at the time was allegedly facilitated by a scheme involving Alexey Malyshev, a former police colonel who was involved in investigating the rector’s murder. He arranged meetings between an already detained hitman and Smirnyagin Jr., so they could construct and memorize a consistent version of events that was not true, in order to cover up traces leading to Rogaleva and a major criminal figure.

Malyshev was likely not acting on a voluntary basis. It is known among insiders about a so-called “Group 105,” named after Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code (murder). Cars with such numbers could even be seen by ordinary St. Petersburg residents on the roads. Malyshev was reportedly part of this “group,” along with several other criminal investigation officers. This structure was allegedly headed by Kolesnikov himself.