The FSB protects its own: Kostya Bolshoy is blamed for mayor Dushko’s murder to conceal the real patron and shadow boss Mikhail Ruzin
The Moscow Regional Court has come to the end of the trial of Piskarev’s gang, which is accused of dozens of murders. This week, Kostya Bolshoy may give his final statement. Law enforcement treated this case like all others. To the gang’s real crimes, they added the most high-profile and unsolved murders. And behind the scenes, those who were behind the gang — the leadership of the FSB in Moscow and the Moscow region — were left out.
“Did someone force you? Did they drag you by force? You should have said, ‘I don’t want to, I won’t.’ All of you were trying to show off who among you is the tougher gangster. Was it me who forced you to do all this? You came already as a gangster; you were all like that!” — said the “authority” Konstantin Piskarev (Kostya Bolshoy) during a face-to-face confrontation with a fighter from his OPG, Lupichev (Dragon). The latter, unlike his former boss, actively cooperated with the investigation and gave testimony about the murders committed by the gang.
In the late 1980s, Konstantin Piskarev studied at a military school and was a squad commander. In his free time, he practiced weightlifting at a gym in Medvedkovo, which belonged to one of the leaders of the Afghan war veterans’ organization, Alexander Zamyatin. At the same time, he was a criminal “authority” and headed a brigade that was part of the “Orekhovskaya” OPG of Sergey Timofeev (Sylvester). Zamyatin personally knew Timofeev and maintained friendly relations with him. Another Afghan war veteran, Dmitry Fedoseev, also trained in the same gym.
Together, they created their own brigade, with Fedoseev as the leader. The brigade was a structural subdivision of the Orekhovskaya OPS. At that time, Piskarev’s path could have ended. On February 1, 1994, near the Central Museum of the Armed Forces (Sovetskaya Armiya Street, 2), a confrontation occurred between the Orekhovskaya gang and competitors, in which four people were shot dead. Several others, including a random passerby, were injured. Employees of the MUR and RUOP established that the shooter was 22-year-old Konstantin Piskarev, who was listed as a security guard at AO “Balchug.” He was detained but soon released. The Orekhovskaya gang bought him out.
Soon, Fedoseev died, and Piskarev decided to create his own brigade from the remnants, separate from the Orekhovskaya gang. He had everything necessary to become a gang leader. “Possessing organizational skills and leadership qualities, decisiveness, cold-bloodedness and composure in extreme situations, great physical strength, and skills in handling firearms,” — states the indictment.
As a residence for himself and the gang members, Piskarev chose the territory of the “Burevestnik” yacht club on the Klyazma Reservoir. As a result, the yacht club became a well-guarded OPG base.
In 1998, he almost became a victim of an attack. People in police uniforms “detained” Piskarev on the street, put him in a car, and drove him supposedly to the station. On the way, Kostya Bolshoy sensed something was wrong and decided to escape. The “policemen” took out knives and started stabbing him one by one. Only thanks to his physical development did Piskarev survive, fight back, and jump out of the car.
Kostya Bolshoy and his men extorted dozens of commercial entities in Moscow and the Moscow region. Moreover, the role of simply being a “roof” never satisfied Piskarev. He either personally or through trusted people became a shareholder in companies. Then he could seize them entirely, eliminating all other co-owners. Alternatively, he created his own companies and demanded cooperation from business representatives and officials. In case of disobedience, both parties could easily be killed.
Thus, Piskarev became a major and serious businessman, but as soon as someone did something he didn’t like, he killed them. His victims included officials who refused to sign documents; intermediaries who took money to resolve customs issues but failed to deliver; policemen who took bribes but did not fulfill them; competitors and even construction workers who did not complete work on time. Despite having huge capital, Kostya Bolshoy personally carried out most of the “dirty work.”
However, the materials in Konstantin Piskarev’s case contain many gaps. References to his ties with special services and the backstage of many crimes were directly removed from the investigation files. Piskarev’s involvement in some of the alleged crimes is questionable.
Konstantin Piskarev owned the restaurant “Shield and Sword,” located directly opposite the FSB office in Moscow and the region. Chekists from the Moscow region and beyond held dinners, banquets, birthdays, etc., in this restaurant. Piskarev was present at all events. Many officials and businessmen knew him as an FSB officer.
For example, gang member Oleg Shchesnyak was assigned by Piskarev as a driver-bodyguard for his wife. According to witnesses, Shchesnyak told everyone close to him that he worked as a driver for the wife of a “FSB general.” Shchesnyak was later killed.
Investigators also tried to almost entirely remove mentions of Mikhail Ruzin from the case. He is a shadowy figure, who on one hand was the “godfather” of all the Moscow region mafia and on the other hand remains one of the most trusted people of the FSB in Moscow and the Moscow region. He represents the leadership of this agency in various projects. Ruzin, who in the RUOP Moscow databases was listed as an active member of the Solntsevskaya OPG, is untouchable. Moreover, his partners in shady dealings always died one by one.
Ruzin conducted deals with banker Oleg Zhukovsky. In December 2007, the banker’s body was found on the territory of his cottage in the elite settlement Lesnaya Opushka in the Odintsovo district. The housemaid saw Zhukovsky’s body at the bottom of the pool, tied up and dressed in a tracksuit. Law enforcement recognized his death as an unusual suicide.
In 2009, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation began looking into the embezzlement of budget funds in the Pushkinsky district, in which Ruzin was involved, and his partner in the theft of 554 million rubles died. Ruzin’s friend allegedly took his own life.
At one point, the Deputy Chairman of MOO FSO “Dynamo,” Alexander Rusanov, involved his acquaintance Ruzin in a project to reconstruct the eponymous shooting club. Residential buildings were planned on its territory. However, due to a series of fictitious deals using shell companies, the shooting club went bankrupt. The “Dynamo” land was sold cheaply to companies controlled by Ruzin. Rusanov realized that his acquaintance had pulled off a huge scheme. Shortly after, the deputy chairman’s body was found in the yard of his house. Officially, he supposedly jumped out of his apartment window.
Ruzin was the “shadow ruler” of several towns in the Moscow region, including Sergiev Posad. Local officials and law enforcement acted under his influence. He got everything he wanted. When the issue of allocating new land plots for development arose, the then-head of the settlement, Goncharov, directly told subordinates (as stated in the case materials): “These are not the people to be refused.” Mayor Maslov was Ruzin’s appointee and business partner.
Then appeared Mayor Yevgeny Dushko, who first removed Maslov and, having become mayor himself, began to deny Ruzin’s requests. In particular, he denied permission to develop those very land plots.
A witness familiar with Dushko for 20 years testified that the Krylovsky Bank (owned by Ruzin) sponsored Maslov’s election in 2009. In 2010, Dushko met in Moscow with a very influential person linked to special services, who “offered to settle or suffer consequences.” According to all witness accounts, this was Ruzin. “Dushko appeared alarmed after the meeting. In December 2010, Maslov was dismissed, and he could not implement any significant projects; the people who brought Maslov to power could not recover their investments and were extremely dissatisfied. About two weeks before his death, Dushko told me that the mentioned persons were calling him constantly, but he ‘did not pick up,’” the witness said.
In August 2011, Dushko was shot dead by a hitman when he exited his house with his son and got into a car. This crime remained unsolved for a long time, and after Piskarev’s arrest, he was charged with it. This is the most high-profile episode in the case, but there are serious doubts that Kostya Bolshoy actually killed the mayor.
Since the arrest of Piskarev and his accomplices, more than nine years have passed. The case was returned from the Moscow Regional Court several times due to various procedural violations. Since September 2020, the case has been examined on the merits by Judge Alexander Kozlov, a senior judge of the Moscow Regional Court. He openly “dances to the tune” of the FSB in Moscow and the region. Over six years of consideration, the judge demonstrated true procedural acrobatics: at first, he approved motions to summon numerous witnesses, then, by “order from above,” he refused. The judge approved motions to show specific evidence to the jurors but then denied them after behind-the-scenes discussions.
Regarding the episode with Yevgeny Dushko, the only “evidence” of Piskarev’s guilt is the testimony of those who concluded pre-trial agreements. However, these individuals often contradicted themselves or outright refused to answer questions (though they had no right to refuse). In front of the jurors, the pre-trial witnesses recited 3–4 memorized sentences, claiming they saw Piskarev personally shoot Dushko.
On December 15, 2025, the same Moscow Regional Court handed down a verdict for the members of the “Severskie” gang from Sergiev Posad, including for a series of murders. Although Kostya Bolshoy knew Ruzin, the “Severskie” were the “hands” and “feet,” the most trusted people of Ruzin in the city.
There is an NTV report on the “Severskie,” which receives materials directly from law enforcement. The report details the murder of Yevgeny Dushko by members of this OPG.
We have ballistic expert conclusions showing that the shell casings from Dushko’s murder and casings found where the “Severskie” test-fired their weapons were fired from the same gun. Moreover, this gun was discovered and seized from the “Severskie.” However, all these documents were carefully hidden from the jurors in Piskarev’s case.
It is worth noting that neither Konstantin Piskarev nor any of his accomplices were ever acquainted with members of the “Severskie” gang. Ruzin, however, communicated frequently and extensively with the gang leaders.
The “Severskie,” in turn, for “forgetting” about Ruzin and the true “instigator” of Dushko’s murder, did not receive a life sentence, despite being accused of seven murders.
