On February 17, the Moscow Presnensky Court assigned an injunction to the defendants in the hostage-taking case at a flower shop on Taganskaya Street in Moscow.
“The court, taking into account the position of the Moscow prosecutor’s office, chose a restraining measure in the form of detention until April 17, 2023,” the Moscow prosecutor’s office said in its Telegram channel.
The 41-year-old plumber Andrei Safronov pleaded not guilty and did not participate in the arrest. Charged in accordance with paragraphs “a, d, g” of part 2 of Art. 206 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (hostage taking) and Art. 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (rape on the life of a law enforcement officer) – injured the head of the Moscow criminal investigation department during the release of the hostages.
The second defendant, 44-year-old Alexey Goryunkov, was also detained until 17 April. He is accused of taking hostages.
Goryunkov faces up to 15 years in prison. Safronov could go to prison for life.
Repentance and poisoning
Although Safronov did not admit his guilt, he apologized to the hostage – the flower seller – during a conversation with journalists in the courtroom. He also said that he had known her for a long time and bought flowers from her several times.
In his meeting with the press, he admitted that he did not give an account of his actions. Safronov also claims that he was apparently poisoned with Novichok poison.
“I don’t understand how this coincidence happened, that’s all. I was poisoned “Rookie”. All my skin is climbing, ”one KP.ru correspondent reported from the courtroom.
When asked who poisoned him, Safronov could not answer.
hostage taking
On February 17, Safronov and Goryunkov drove to a flower shop on Taganskaya Street in an armored vehicle, entered it and held the two women in the building at gunpoint, making various demands. One of the hostages was released before the special forces arrived at the flower shop.
During a special operation to rescue the hostage, Safronov shot at a police officer. Later, SHOT Telegram channel and Zvezda TV channel, citing sources from the authorities, reported that the Head of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department, Police Major General Sergei Kuzmin, was injured. SHOT also wrote that Safronov fired at the general with a Grand Power T-10 traumatic pistol. SHOT claims that Safronov has a gun license, but was convicted in 2020 under article “threat to kill” (Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Upon his release, the florist salesman said Safronov wanted a “green aisle to fly” because someone had “killed his child”. He also said that Safronov had Goryunkov on his knees in the middle of the store and then dragged him into the back room.
Safronov could not explain his “green corridor” request to reporters in the courtroom. When asked where he should fly, he replied “somewhere”.
“Noob”
“Novichok” became famous after attempting to kill former GRU officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. They were found unconscious on a bench near a shopping center in Salisbury, England, in March 2018. Passers-by called an ambulance, Skripals was taken to the hospital. British authorities claim that the family was poisoned by Novichok and blame the Russian side. Moscow denied any involvement in the incident and claimed that British and US intelligence services may have been involved. Later, the media wrote that the Skripals moved to New Zealand and lived there under new names.
The second most famous incident was the one with Alexei Navalny (included in the list of terrorists and extremists) on August 20, 2020. On the Tomsk-Moscow flight, Navalny felt unwell, and the crew decided to make an emergency landing in Omsk, where the politician was hospitalized. He fell into a coma. Omsk doctors called the main diagnosis a metabolic disorder.
Two days later, Navalny was transferred to Germany to the Charité clinic, where doctors said that Navalny had been poisoned with substances from the Novichok group, but no relevant evidence was presented to the Russian side. Moscow has repeatedly denied Western accusations that it was involved in the poisoning of Navalny. The incident was investigated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which later submitted a report. The Russian side pointed out the inconsistencies in the OPCW report and stated that the Western countries used the situation with Navalni as a pretext for the pressure of sanctions against Moscow.
On January 17, 2021, Navalny returned to Russia, but was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport for violating probation. On February 2, the court replaced his suspended sentence with a real one. Navalny is now serving his sentence in a colony in the Vladimir region.