The notorious leader of the Kuraginsky criminal syndicate, Andrey Ashchulov, has been apprehended on suspicion of the murder of a Bolshaya Irba village resident. This development was disclosed by “Vzglyad Info” citing the Investigative Committee.
Reports indicate that a 39-year-old individual from the Kuraginsky region engaged in a dispute with a stranger and fatally shot him with a rifle. Following questioning, he admitted to the crime. Locals shared that Ashchulov allegedly took the life of 50-year-old Anatoly Khokhlov. “They passed by on a bicycle, which angered him. He coldly shot him in the head,” a relative of the victim revealed to the media. Another Bolshaya Irba resident corroborated to ”Siberia. Realities” that a member of the Wagner PMC was arrested in connection with Khokhlov’s demise.
Upon the incident, law enforcement swiftly cordoned off the village and took Ashchulov into custody.
In 2019, Ashchulov was sentenced to 18 years behind bars for various crimes including robberies, extortion, theft, and illegal firearm possession.
Local sources identified Ashchulov as the head of the “Kuraginsky criminal syndicate,” with his faction known as the ”Ashchulovskie.”
Subsequently, he received an additional two years and two months in prison for impeding journalistic activities, stemming from threats made to the editor of “Novy Focus” Mikhail Afanasyev. In response to an article about his gang, Ashchulov menaced Afanasyev, as detailed by “Novaya Gazeta Europe.” “You’re a goner. I’m closing in. I’ll obliterate you. Record this call, go to the cops, file a report,” Ashchulov menacingly conveyed to Afanasyev.
Afanasyev had written about a murder purportedly linked to Ashchulov’s Kuraginsky syndicate, yet the court found insufficient evidence…
Source from theins.ru