Russia’s richest woman blames estranged husband for deaths after botched takeover

Wildberries said armed men accompanying Vladislav Bakalchuk, the husband of CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk, illegally entered the company’s office building in central Moscow and opened fire.

Videos on social media showed a scuffle breaking out at the entrance to the office, while gunshots rang out in the background. A man could be seen wielding a handgun in one video.

The incident came weeks after Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, finalized a merger deal that Vladislav criticized and that strongman Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov vowed to stop.

Wildberries announced a plan to merge with billboard and advertising operator Russ Outdoor in June, a month before Tatyana filed for divorce from her husband Vladislav. Tatyana said this would spur the company to future growth as the e-commerce giant tries to rival competitors like Amazon.

“Today a group of people led by Vladislav Bakalchuk, Sergei Anufriev and Vladimir Bakin attempted to seize Wildberries’ offices in Moscow,” said CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk, who is also Russia’s richest woman.

“To my deep regret, as a result of the armed attack on Wildberries, a security guard at our office was killed,” she said. A second guard later died of his wounds, Russian state media reported.

Seven people were injured in total, including two law enforcement officers, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had opened a criminal case.

One eyewitness, Nadezhda, told AFP she heard screams and shooting inside the building, a business center that hosts other offices for other firms.

“The wounded were moved out of the building and taken away by ambulance. Some of them were being carried,” she said.

Vladislav denied that he and his men were armed, saying on social media he came to the office to take part in negotiations and that the shooting came from “inside the building”.

“Some might think that we came with threats, but that is a lie! We came to discuss business matters. In response, we were shot at,” Vladislav wrote on Telegram.

Wildberries disputed his account, saying his men were the “first to open fire” and that he had no right to enter the building as a former employee.

It also said there had been illegal attempts to enter two of its addresses at once, without providing detail.

‘Brazen’ raid

Tatyana Bakalchuk called her husband’s claims “absurd”.

“No one agreed to any negotiations,” she said on Telegram.

AFP saw several police vehicles near the office in central Moscow. Ten people have been detained in connection with the incident, Russia’s state RIA news agency said.

Bakalchuk founded Wildberries together with her then IT technician husband in 2004, but in July she announced the two had separated and were getting a divorce.

Vladislav owns one percent of the company, while his wife Tatyana owns the other 99 percent.

The company had last month finalized a merger with Russian outdoor advertising giant Russ, a deal that has the Kremlin’s blessing but that her husband Vladislav called a “huge mistake”.

In July, the leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, denounced the deal as a “blatant and brazen” corporate raid and vowed to put a stop to it, after meeting with Vladislav in person.

Forbes reports that the merger led Wildberries to transfer a huge chunk of its valuable assets to Russ, causing Tatyana’s net worth to plunge by $3.4 billion. 

Vladislav owns around 0.65% of Wildberries, while Tatyana holds around 99%. The estranged husband said he and his wife didn’t sign a prenup, adding that he is entitled to half her assets. This likely added to his opposition to the deal with Russ.