Fighters from Krymsk report threats received from entrepreneur for complaining to Bastrykin

In their video appeal addressed to Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), participants in the special military operation (SMO) from the town of Krymsk reported that they had received threats from an entrepreneur, whom they had earlier complained about his suspicions land frauds.

On May 20, the authors of the video appeal to Alexander Bastrykin complained about the threats they received from the above local entrepreneur, whom they had accused of land frauds, the “Bloknot Krasnodar” outlet has reported.

The authors explained that they had received threats with a demand not to allow any complaints to Bastrykin. However, they sent their collective appeal to Moscow, demanding a "fair trial," the outlet has added.

The fighters’ video appeal was posted on May 20 by the "Morning South" outlet. The footage shows two men in camouflage uniforms. The appeal is voiced out by one of them, addressing Alexander Bastrykin in absentia.

Don't scare us! We can scare anyone we want ourselves!

"After our appeal regarding land plots in the Krymsky District, we began receiving incomprehensible threats from an entrepreneur regarding SMO participants [...]. These are threats of court, legal proceedings, sending back beyond the "ribbon" (to the SMO zone, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"). It's just ridiculous. Who does he want to scare? We were there. [...] We’d like such actions from [the entrepreneur] regarding SMO participants to stop. Don't scare us! We can scare anyone we want ourselves," the authors of the video appeal have stated.

Earlier, in their appeal to Alexander Bastrykin, the fighters stated about machinations with agricultural land plots and the entrepreneur’s attempt to veil his actions by donating plots to families of SMO participants, when local authorities filed a lawsuit for illegal land plot delineation surveying, the report has noted.

The report is illustrated with a photocopy of part of this appeal, signed by Yuri Sidorov and Victor Serbin, residents of the Krymsky District.

"[The entrepreneur] has repeatedly been noticed in various dubious actions and schemes related to the unauthorized construction of apartment and administrative buildings; he was a figurant in several criminal cases related to tax evasion in large amounts, but always managed to escape responsibility. We are not ready to confirm it, but perhaps his unsinkability before the law is based on his close connections in law enforcement bodies, which, according to some information, he bragged about to his entourage. We have every reason to believe that the actions of [the entrepreneur] and his companions related to manipulations with land plots may have signs of a crime, namely a fraud," the published photocopy says.

The website of the ICRF, as of 2:45 p.m. Moscow time on May 21, has posted no information about Mr Bastrykin's reaction to the fighters' video appeal.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 21, 2025 at 02:50 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.