MOSCOW, 29 September. /TASS/. The Basmanny Court of Moscow placed Alexander Kochnev, General Director of VIM-Avia, under house arrest until November 25, accused of fraud with the airline's funds.

"The court ruled to satisfy the investigation's petition and elect a preventive measure in the form of house arrest for a period of November 25 against Kochnev," Judge Elena Lenskaya announced the decision.

The judge also noted that while under house arrest, Kochnev can visit medical facilities to provide qualified assistance, after notifying the investigating authorities. Otherwise, the court imposed standard restrictions on Kochnev - not to leave the place of residence, not to communicate with the media, not to use the Internet and not to send mail. Also, the court did not allow him to walk.

On Friday, Ekaterina Panteleeva, the airline's chief accountant, was placed under house arrest until the same date. She did not object to this measure of restraint. The accused will be under house arrest in her Moscow apartment. She is prohibited from contacting other defendants in the case.

The airline's management carried out the withdrawal of the company's assets for the purpose of their subsequent theft, and the investigation also established that, being unable to provide passenger transportation services, the company continued to sell tickets, the investigator specified in court. On this moment"not all possible accomplices in the crime" were identified and detained, he added.

A source close to the investigation told TASS that the investigation accuses Kochnev and Panteleeva of selling tickets for flights, despite the objective impossibility of the company to fulfill its obligations. "Kochnev and other persons knew in advance about the poor state of affairs in the airline, but did not take measures to stop selling tickets, and disposed of the funds received at their own discretion," the source said.

According to the materials of the case, Alexander Neradko, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, was interrogated as a witness in this case.

The case against the defendants was initiated on September 25 on the grounds of Part 4 of Art. 159 ("Fraud committed on an especially large scale"). The maximum punishment under this article is 10 years in prison.

The investigator in court said that the owners of the airline, Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev, disappeared exactly on the day the criminal case was opened. Their location is being established. They will be put on the wanted list as part of a criminal case on fraud, law enforcement agencies previously reported to TASS. According to the Investigative Committee, "Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaeva hastily left the country, according to the information available to the investigation, they are abroad."

Positions of the parties

The investigator asked that Kochnev and Panteleeva be placed under house arrest and subject to standard restrictions. "Kochnev managed the company and made all significant decisions," the investigator said, motivating the petition. According to him, Kochnev and Panteleeva "by virtue of their official position, they can put pressure on other defendants in the case."

The prosecutor upheld the position of the investigation in court. "The materials of the investigation in their totality allow us to consider the position of the investigation justified," the prosecutor said.

Kochnev, in turn, asked to be released on bail to eliminate the difficulties that had arisen in the airline. He added that if house arrest is chosen as a preventive measure, he asks to be allowed two-hour walks and visits to doctors. Senior partner in the bar "Yukov and Partners", Kochnev's lawyer Mikhail Voronin supported the statement of his client. He also added that "[Kochnev's] detention was carried out with violations and it is illegal."

non-flying airline

On September 25, VIM-Avia announced the termination of all charter flights due to financial problems and lack of working capital. This was preceded by a series of flight delays at Russian and foreign airports. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the total debt of VIM-Avia is about 7 billion rubles.

The day before, the government allocated 98 million rubles to the Federal Air Transport Agency for servicing aircraft"VIM-Avia", including payment for fuel and services for airport and ground flight support. According to the order signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the funds will be allocated from the Reserve Fund. At the same time, VIM-Avia's total debt for work, services, fuel, airport and ground flight support is about 1.3 billion rubles.

The Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia has completed the main investigative actions in a high-profile criminal case of fraud and abuse in what was once one of the largest airlines in the country "VIM-Avia" which is currently going through bankruptcy proceedings. On Friday, GSU ​​investigators brought final charges against three defendants in the investigation. Depending on the role of each of them, the former CEOs of the company Alexander Kochnev, Vice-President Alevtina Kalashnikov and accountant Ekaterina Panteleeva were accused of committing crimes under Part 2 of Art. 201, part 1 of Art. 176 and part 3 of Art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of authority that entailed grave consequences; illegal receipt of a loan and transfer of currency to non-residents of the Russian Federation using forged documents). Similar articles, but in absentia, the investigation incriminated the co-owner of the company Rashid Mursekaev, who left Russia before the start of the proceedings.

Initially, the Main Investigative Directorate of the ICR accused the defendants of a particularly large-scale fraud committed by an organized criminal group (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, knowing that the airline located in financial trouble and unable to pay for fuel and airfield services, they continued to sell tickets for flights that ended up not taking off. However, according to Alexander Kochnev's lawyer Mikhail Voronin, the investigators, having analyzed this episode, obviously came to the conclusion that the airline still tried to fully fulfill its obligations to customers. The former top managers of VIM-Avia did not admit their guilt.

“Alexander Kochnev conscientiously acted as the general director of the airline, so all his actions were in accordance with the law,” lawyer Voronin believes. “Kochnev himself believes that if the company had been able to pay for fuel in September last year, then its planes would still be flying.”

According to Voronin's lawyer, after the presentation of the final charge, his client refused to testify, considering it necessary to first familiarize himself with his text in detail. “In addition, we need to study a few more documents that are not in the case,” the defender explained to Kommersant. “We assured the investigation that we would give our answer to the charge in a week.”

After the charges of fraud were dropped, the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on abuse of power, providing for up to ten years in prison, became the main one in the case. According to investigators, the top managers of VIM-Avia allowed it, in particular, in relation to CJSC Domodedovo Airport Commercial Agency, which was not paid more than 500 million rubles for ground handling of aircraft, as well as the Federal State Unitary Enterprise State ATM Corporation. The latter could not receive more than 200 million rubles for air navigation support for the flights of VIM-Avia liners. At the same time, it should be noted that Rashid Mursekaev acted as a guarantor for fuel loans at Domodedovo. A claim for 300 million rubles was personally satisfied against him, but there was actually nothing to levy foreclosure.

The press service of Domodedovo Airport reported that, according to the decision of arbitration, the entire debt was collected from VIM-Avia, but then it was fully included in the register of claims of the airline's creditors.

The lawyers of the defendants in the investigation could not explain what episodes the charges under Art. 176 and 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, explaining this by the fact that they did not familiarize themselves with the documents of the investigation in detail. According to a Kommersant source, the investigation believes that hundreds of millions of rubles were withdrawn from the airline under fictitious contracts. The banking episode is obviously related to PAO Bank "Zenith"(62.66% owned PAO Tatneft), which provided VIM-Avia with a credit line for 3.6 billion rubles until December 31, 2020. The funds were allocated on the security of expensive aircraft engines, auxiliary power plants and securities of various companies. In 2017, VIM-Avia stopped servicing the loan without paying interest on it in the amount of 32 million rubles. In addition, in violation of the agreement with Zenit, the airline received another loan - from Absolut Bank for 581 million rubles. Absolute, by the way, is still trying to get their money back through arbitration.

In turn, Zenit ceded the right to claim the loan to LLC RNGO, which also went to court. During the inspection of the collateral, it turned out that six out of ten aircraft engines and one auxiliary unit (estimated at almost 1 billion rubles) were missing, and the securities did not really correspond to the value at which they were taken as collateral. The arbitration court recovered 3 billion rubles from the suspicious borrower in favor of the RNGO, allowing the remaining engines to be put up for auction and the bills to be sold.

It is assumed that in a couple of weeks, the defendants in the investigation can begin to familiarize themselves with its materials, after which the indictment will be sent for approval to the Prosecutor General's Office.

On Friday, September 29, the interrogation of VIM-Avia CEO Alexander Kochnev and the airline's chief accountant Ekaterina Panteleeva took place. After that, the investigation turned to the Basmanny Court of Moscow with a demand to send both defendants under house arrest in the case of embezzlement of funds from the airline's customers.

The term of the investigation in the case was extended until November 25, and both defendants were placed under house arrest before this deadline. At the same time, the chief accountant Panteleeva and her lawyers agreed with the measure of restraint, and the former general director Kochnev asked the court to release him on bail. Kochnev's defense has not yet decided on the issue of appealing the court's decision.

At the same time, the investigation continues to establish those involved in the theft case. Thus, the number of detainees may increase.

The investigator in court stated that upon the fact of embezzlement of funds, it was established that the company's management "with the purpose of embezzlement withdrew funds abroad."

The representative of the UK also stressed that the owners of VIM-Avia, Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev, left the territory of Russia on the day the criminal case was initiated. Their location is being established.

In addition, on Friday, Alexander Burdin, who previously headed Transaero, was appointed the new CEO of VIM-Avia, and the new team began to conduct a financial analysis and stabilize the company's activities.

“In order to resolve the crisis situation that has developed in VIM-Avia, a new general director has been appointed - Alexander Burdin, who has considerable experience as an anti-crisis manager,” RIA Novosti quotes a representative of VIM-Avia.

“The schedule for repayment of the existing debt for fuel and airport services is being agreed upon. The new management of the company is cooperating with law enforcement agencies,” the company said in a statement.

At the same time, the Federal Air Transport Agency said that the department was not informed about the appointment of Burdin as the new general director of VIM-Avia.

• Aircraft of the airline "VIM-Avia"
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presidential attention

After the Russian airline VIM-Avia declared bankruptcy, the Russian government came to the rescue of passengers who cannot return to their homeland due to flight cancellations. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to send Tu-214 aircraft belonging to a special flight detachment (SLO "Russia") of the Administration of the President of Russia to Antalya to take out tourists.

“A special flight detachment “Russia”, on behalf of the President of Russia, will send two Tu-214 aircraft to Antalya to evacuate passengers of the VIM-Avia airline,” said Elena Krylova, press secretary of the Presidential Administration.

The government aircraft made its first flight to Turkey from Vnukovo to Antalya at 13:00 Moscow time, and the second at 18:00. Thus, 320 Russians will return to Moscow.

According to the press secretary of the head of the Russian state, Dmitry Peskov, Putin is constantly informed about the measures taken in connection with the situation with the VIM-Avia airline, and he keeps the situation under personal control.

“The President is constantly informed about the measures being taken, but the main work is carried out through the government. Energetic measures are being taken there,” Peskov explained.

The day before, the President of Russia took a number of steps at the ministerial level, announcing the head of the Ministry of Transport, Maxim Sokolov, of incomplete official compliance.

Help from airlines

Meanwhile, Russian and foreign air carriers promptly responded to the request of the branch headquarters to help Russian passengers who found themselves without return tickets due to the bankruptcy of VIM-Avia. On Friday, UTair began to transport passengers from Turkey.

• UTair aircraft
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“UTair has started carrying VIM-Avia passengers at the request of the operational headquarters of the Ministry of Transport, which is dealing with the elimination of the crisis.<...>Passengers with VIM-Avia tickets can fly on all regular UTair flights subject to availability,” the press service of the airline said.

On Friday at 11:30 Moscow time, a Boeing 737-500 took off from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, this aircraft will transport Russian citizens from Antalya to Samara.

UTair's press service explained that, according to Andrey Martirosov, CEO of the airline, "the mechanism for reimbursing the airline's costs has not yet been determined, but at the moment it is more important to help compatriots return home."

At the same time, the airline Ural Airlines” expressed its readiness to accept VIM-Avia passengers on its flights.

Since September 29, Ural Airlines began to carry passengers with VIM-Avia tickets on its own flights. Transportation is subject to availability until October 16. VIM-Avia passengers with valid tickets are allowed to board the flight if the route indicated on the ticket coincides with the route of Ural Airlines. To board a flight, VIM-Avia customers who have a valid ticket in their hands must contact the representative office of Ural Airlines at the airports of destination, ”the press service of the company said.

• The plane of the airline "Ural Airlines"
• RIA News

At the moment, there are empty seats on liners flying from Simferopol to Yekaterinburg and Moscow. Ural Airlines is ready to "pick up passengers flying to Domodedovo (Moscow) and Koltsovo (Yekaterinburg) airports."

S7 also volunteered to help by arranging additional flights from 29 September to 10 October.

On a daily basis, a flight will be operated on the route Moscow - Simferopol - Moscow, and from October 1 to October 10 - a flight Moscow - Sochi - Moscow. Aircraft will be sent on the route Moscow - Simferopol - Moscow on September 30 and October 2; October 2 - Moscow - Yerevan - Moscow and Antalya - Moscow; October 3 - Antalya - Moscow and Moscow - Nizhnevartovsk.

Also on topic

Fraud and seven billion debts: the general director and chief accountant of the VIM-Avia airline were detained

The general director and chief accountant of the VIM-Avia airline were detained in a fraud case, the Investigative Committee reported....

Sergey Izvolsky, adviser to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, said that such airlines as Royal Flight and Azur Air have joined the transportation of VIM-Avia passengers. Urals still take people out of Barcelona, ​​EllinAir - from Thessaloniki, Turkish Global Atlas - from Antalya to Samara, the flight is planned today (September 29. - RT),” he explained.

About 600 Chinese citizens affected by the suspension of the charter program of the VIM-Avia airline will return to their homeland next Saturday and Sunday, the Interfax-Tourism portal reports.

According to the Ministry of Transport, in just one day on September 28, almost 4,000 VIM-Avia passengers were transported. More than 2 thousand were transported by the airline itself, 1.25 thousand - by others Russian airlines, 548 passengers - by foreign air carriers. 36 flights are scheduled for September 29: 22 regular and 14 charter flights, of which 16 are domestic regular flights, six are international regular flights and 14 are international charters.

Bankruptcy and fraud of VIM-Avia

On September 25, the airline officially admitted that it did not have the finances to continue working. The management announced that it was ceasing to operate charter flights.

The total debt of VIM-Avia for services, fuel, airport and ground flight support is about 1.3 billion rubles. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich signed a document according to which the board of directors of Aeroflot on September 28 had to approve the allocation of funds to the airline to finance operating and financial activities, which he would be able to compensate through mutual settlements with the industry.

A criminal case was initiated against VIM-Avia under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Fraud”). On Wednesday, September 27, the official representative of the RF IC Svetlana Petrenko said that on behalf of the head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin, the case was transferred to the central office of the IC. According to the investigation, from September 22, the airline officials, knowing that there were not enough funds to purchase fuel, continued to sell tickets for flights, receiving more than 1 million rubles for them.

The court placed under house arrest the former general director of VIM-Avia, Alexander Kochnev, and the chief accountant of the airline, Ekaterina Panteleeva, accused of fraud. The owners of the company Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev left the country

Alexander Kochnev (Photo: Artem Geodakyan / TASS)

The Basmanny Court of Moscow placed under house arrest the former CEO of VIM-Avia Alexander Kochnev and its chief accountant Ekaterina Panteleeva, whom the ICR accuses of fraud with the money of air passengers in the amount of more than 1 million rubles. The decision on house arrest was made by judges Natalia Dudar and Elena Lenskaya, RBC correspondent reports.

“The management of VIM-Avia, not having the financial ability to continue the implementation of transportation, continued to sell tickets. In addition, it was established that the company's leaders carried out the withdrawal of its assets with the aim of subsequent theft, ”said the representative of the ICR at a meeting as Kochnev was suppressed. In addition, about a thousand employees of VIM-Avia are potential witnesses in the case, all of them are directly subordinate to Kochnev and are subject to his influence, the ICR officer indicated. Financial documentation on the state of the company has not yet been seized; the accused knows where it is stored and can destroy it, the investigator added.

The former CEO himself asked to be allowed walks and visits to the doctor. “I also ask, if possible, to change my preventive measure to a recognizance not to leave, so that I can take part in eliminating the delays and other problems that have arisen,” Kochnev said briefly. His lawyer, Senior Partner of Yukov & Partners, Mikhail Voronin, insisted that he “did not see evidence of grounds for house arrest, which is a rather serious preventive measure.” According to him, Kochnev's detention was formalized with violations: for example, his protocol says that he was "caught by the investigation at the time of the crime." In fact, Kochnev was registered as a detainee after a ten-hour interrogation at the TFR.

The investigation has already managed to interrogate several witnesses in the case, including the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko. The representative of the ICR attached the protocol of his interrogation to the petition for a preventive measure to Kochnev as evidence of the involvement of the former general director of VIM-Avia in fraud, said Judge Lenskaya.

Flight of the owners

Kochnev and Panteleeva were detained on Thursday morning after many hours of overnight interrogation in the ICR, RBC Mikhail Voronin. The owners of the airline, Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev, confirmed the TFR in an official statement on Thursday. Their departure was reported the day before by two sources of RBC; according to one of them, the spouses on Tuesday, September 26, between 18:00 and 19:00. According to Alexander Neradko, on Monday evening Rashid Mursekaev was in Moscow at work, the next day the agency staff could not find him in order to continue negotiations on the problems of VIM-Avia. “Without the owner of the enterprise, it is very difficult to change the management of the enterprise, to introduce the so-called anti-crisis management,” Neradko complained.

If the founders fled, the accused himself may do the same, the investigator in the Basmanny Court said at a meeting as Kochnev was put under restraint. “The escape of the founders has not been documented by the investigation. In addition, they are not directly related to my client,” objected the lawyer Voronin.

Carrier problems

Investigators of the ICR opened on the fact of fraud in VIM-Avia on the evening of September 25. A few days earlier, dozens of its flights to Russian and international destinations were delayed at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, where the company is based. The Prosecutor General's Office reported that the company performed 12% of flights in 2017 with many hours of delay.

The delays are related to fuel suppliers, the Federal Air Transport Agency said at the time. According to the agency, VIM-Avia's problems began due to the fact that the airline acquired long-haul Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 on lease, but did not calculate the demand for transportation and suffered losses.

Mursekaev acknowledged that "the airline has a difficult economic situation, working capital has run out and funding has been frozen." At the same time, about 200 thousand passengers bought tickets for VIM-Avia flights by the end of the year, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). According to her, the total debt of the carrier to contractors, passengers, airports and banks ranges from 3 billion to 10 billion rubles. On Friday, September 29, Alexander Burdin, an air carrier, was appointed the new CEO of VIM-Avia.

Massive delays in VIM-Avia flights have been occurring since July 2016. The company then associated them with the high season and the attempted coup in Turkey. The problems were solved thanks to the commissioning of new vessels, the representative of the carrier reported. In June 2017, the company attributed the wave of cancellations of charter flights to a delay in the repair of aircraft. The number of victims was then estimated at approximately 30 thousand people.

In January-September 2017, the department of Rostransnadzor for the Volga federal district carried out seven checks in the airline (registered in Tatarstan), mainly at the request of citizens. Against the top management of VIM-Avia, it was initiated on salary delays in the amount of 206 million rubles, another case was opened on September 29 by Rospotrebnadzor.

​According to the file of arbitration courts, in January-September 2017, 38 cases were registered in which the airline is the defendant.

The Kremlin's reaction

On the morning of September 26, more than 20 regular flights and more than ten charter flights of the airline were canceled in three Russian cities and six foreign countries. At an emergency meeting at the Federal Air Transport Agency, Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov said that supporting VIM-Avia is pointless, since "the company has practically stopped working." According to him, the main task now is to export from abroad from 40 thousand to 100 thousand clients of VIM-Avia, whose vacation has come to an end.

They agreed to transport VIM-Avia passengers from abroad. Part of the obligations for the return of tourists will have to be taken on by buying them new tickets - these additional costs may exceed $ 10 million. In addition, the Aeroflot government will spend about 1.8 billion rubles to fulfill the obligations of VIM-Avia. own funds.

On September 27, President Vladimir Putin announced to Minister Sokolov. At a meeting with members of the government, the head of state expressed bewilderment that the airline, according to officials, meets all the criteria, but cannot work. Criticism from the president was also awarded to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who oversees transport. “You don't pay enough attention to this industry. Maybe you are overworked too? Putin said. The head of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, in turn, pointed out to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Neradko, insufficient attention to the alarms about the state of VIM-Avia, which had been coming in for about a year.

VIM-Avia was established in October 2002. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the founders of VIM-Avia LLC are Rashid (1%) and Svetlana (99%) Mursekaevs. They are also listed as founders of Invest Holding PJSC declared bankrupt in July 2017.

In 2016, the company showed a net profit of 89 million rubles. with revenue of 17.174 billion rubles. The value of assets as of December 31, 2016 amounted to RUB 10.481 billion, and net financial debt was RUB 7.007 billion. (

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Emin Jafarov / Kommersant

Arrested two top managers of the bankrupt airline

The general director and chief accountant of VIM-Avia, Alexander Kochnev and Ekaterina Panteleeva, accused of fraud, were placed under house arrest, to which they did not particularly object. At the same time, Kochnev asked to be given the opportunity to fulfill the company's obligations to passengers. The head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Alexander Neradko, was interrogated in the case as a witness.

The petitions of the investigators of the TFR to place Alexander Kochnev and Ekaterina Panteleeva under house arrest were considered in different halls of the Basmanny Court. From the documents read out during the meeting, it followed that on September 23 the investigator received a report from the FSB officers, which spoke of fraud in the airline. Two days later, on its basis, a criminal case was initiated on fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code) against unidentified leaders of VIM-Avia, two days later, Messrs. Kochnev and Panteleeva were interrogated as witnesses, and then the accused.

According to investigators, the leaders of the airline, knowing that VIM-Avia was unable to fulfill its obligations to customers, continued to sell tickets to them, and in addition, they transferred the company's assets to fly-by-night companies and abroad. The damage in the case has not yet been calculated, but, according to preliminary data, it could amount to hundreds of millions of rubles - the company's debts are estimated at 7 billion rubles.

“Kochnev made managerial decisions related to the crime,” the investigator said, petitioning for the accused to be placed under house arrest. According to him, “by virtue of his official position”, the accused can put pressure on other defendants in the investigation and hide.

The representative of the TFR said that active investigative actions are now being carried out in the case: financial documents of VIM-Avia are being seized and witnesses are being interrogated. Among the latter was the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko.

The investigation expects to increase the number of defendants in the investigation. In the near future, the co-owners of VIM-Avia, the spouses Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaeva, will be among them. On the day the criminal case was opened, they managed to fly abroad, so they will be charged in absentia. The arrests of businessmen, who are soon to be put on the international wanted list, will also turn out to be in absentia.

The investigator was supported by the prosecutor, who said that only house arrests would contribute to an objective investigation of Kochnev and Panteleeva.

The accused were generally not opposed to being at home, and not in a pre-trial detention center. “I don’t mind house arrest,” Panteleeva said. The general director of VIM-Avia timidly asked to be allowed to go for walks and visits to the doctor, since he suffers from diabetes. According to the businessman, if in his respect they limit themselves to a written undertaking not to leave, he will be able to take certain measures to fulfill the airline's obligations to passengers.

Kochnev's lawyer, in turn, said that the investigation did not provide any convincing evidence that the Mursekaevs had fled the country and from their obligations. At the same time, he cited a whole list of violations committed during the investigation. So, for example, the detention of the general director of VIM-Avia was issued only after he spent ten hours in the building of the Investigative Committee.

The VIM-Avia team (the airline employs about 1,000 people) also spoke out against the arrests of its leaders, whose representatives were ready to vouch for them. “Kochnev led the company during a difficult period of economic crisis. Under his leadership, VIM-Avia not only retained its position in the air transportation market, but also managed to become one of the ten largest Russian airlines,” the statement said.

However, the court decided that the crisis management of VIM-Avia can be carried out without its top managers. Kochnev and Panteleeva were placed under house arrest until 25 November. At the same time, they are forbidden to leave their homes, use any means of communication, except for emergency situations, and they can communicate only with close relatives, defenders, investigators and employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service. The latter will soon put electronic bracelets on the accused to control their movements. Kochnev will be under investigation in his apartment in Solovyinoy proezd. The court refused to let him go for walks, and allowed him to visit doctors, informing the investigator about this in advance.