Husband of Russia's richest woman arrested for murder after office shooting

Moscow — Vladislav Bakalchuk, the estranged husband of Russia's richest woman, was arrested on Thursday and charged with murder following a fatal shooting at the Moscow office of Russia's largest online retailer, his lawyers said.

On Wednesday, two people were killed in a shooting at Wildberries' offices a few blocks from the Kremlin as a dispute over the company's future took a violent turn. Seven others were injured, including police officers.

Vladislav and his wife Tatyana Bakalchuk, who filed for divorce in July, have been embroiled in a heated public dispute since Wildberries announced plans to merge with outdoor advertising company Russ Group in June.

Tatyana founded Wildberries, Russia's answer to Amazon, in 2004 and developed the company from an online clothing reseller into a major marketplace for all kinds of goods.

Both parties blamed each other for Wednesday's shooting.

Vladislav said he came to an agreed meeting and the first shots were fired by office employees. Tatyana said Vladislav and his colleagues tried to occupy the office and there was no meeting planned.

Vladislav's lawyers said he was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder of a police officer, which they said was a “flagrant and unprecedented violation” of their client's rights.

At the heart of the business dispute is the merger with RVB, a new company with Robert Mirzoyan as CEO, which reduced Tatyana's total stake in RVB from 99% of Wildberries to around 65%.

At the time, Vladislav claimed that his wife had been “manipulated.” Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who supported Vladislav, described the merger as “wealth destruction.”

Tatjana denied both allegations. The Kremlin said that President Vladimir Putin supported the merger but would not interfere in its progress.

In a tearful video message posted on Telegram early Thursday, Tatyana said: “Vladislav, what are you doing? How can you look your parents and our children in the eyes? How could you make the situation so absurd?”

The affair dates back to the 1990s, when deadly turf wars among corporations were commonplace in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and huge assets were redistributed.