act provocatively in court
On April 6, the Novosibirsk District Court handed down verdicts for members of the Semenovskie gang. Law enforcement had labeled the group after its alleged leader during the investigation, a pattern seen in many organized crime cases to simplify reference for jurists and prosecutors alike.
Four criminals stood before the bench. Collectively, they drew sentences totaling nearly 50 years. The gang’s ringleader, Mikhail Semyonov, received 15 years and 1 month; Vladimir Sheidel was sentenced to 13 years and 1 month; Valery Panyushkin got 12 years and 1 month; and Viktor Katkov was given 7 years and 9 months. All four are slated to serve their terms in a strict-regime penal colony.
Investigators established 19 distinct crimes attributed to the group across six months, from October 2019 to April 2020. The charges spanned theft, armed robbery, extortion, fraud, banditry, arms trafficking, and the destruction or theft of documents.
Throughout the trial, the defendants asserted bold defiance, attempting to derail the judicial process in various ways. Semyonov claimed a bleeding mouth and asked for an ambulance, later admitting to a loosened tooth. His co-defendant supported the claim of medical distress by citing high blood pressure. The sentencing proceedings extended over two days.
Prison accomplices found
The group’s leader is identified as 25-year-old Mikhail Semyonov, a Krasnokamensk native from the Trans-Baikal Territory with a documented criminal record. As a youth, he was convicted of theft and received a suspended sentence. He later faced further charges for fraud, robbery, and the deliberate damage of others’ property, resulting in a real sentence that followed.
Semyonov served time in a penal colony in the Novosibirsk region, where he met Vladimir Sheidel and reportedly maintained contact after his release. The prosecution noted that on October 11, 2019, Semyonov was released, and the next day he began taking steps to organize a criminal network. Semyonov and Sheidel recruited Valery Panyushkin from Novosibirsk to join their operation, with Panyushkin serving as the primary scout for potential victims due to his familiarity with the city.
The initial plan targeted drug addicts and pawnbrokers, with Panyushkin acting as the primary strategist and locator. The logic rested on the belief that drug users and couriers would be reluctant to involve law enforcement for fear of their own legal jeopardy.
“It was terrible”
Panyushkin proposed locations in Novosibirsk where illegal drug traffickers commonly stored drugs, including sites such as the Inyushensky pine forest, and wooded areas near the Red Mammoth and Big Dipper TVKs. Victims were lured into the cabin of a Toyota Harrier SUV, after which the criminals would move in to execute the robbery plan.
Their method was straightforward and widely understood: the assailants would pose as police officers, apply force, and seize the victims’ belongings. According to an investigative statement, gun threats were used to force compliance, moving victims from their apartments to other locations where valuables could be taken. The commentary outlined that the stolen items were then transferred to the suspects or pawned for quick cash.
Residents of the Oktyabrsky and Dzerzhinsky districts, where the gang primarily operated, began avoiding solitary walks and aimed to return home before dusk as a precaution against late-day danger.
One local, speaking under anonymity, recalled constant patterns of fear that forced neighbors to band together for safety. A resident remarked that the presence of the danger had altered daily routines for many families, prompting proactive measures to shield loved ones.
Another neighbor recounted how fear reshaped family routines, with adults taking extra precautions to ensure children stayed indoors after school and updating routines to minimize risk during commutes.
They beat and took everything
As the investigation progressed, the Semenovski crew broadened targets beyond loan sharks and drug dealers. In March 2020, Semyonov, Panyushkin, Sheidel, and an associate Viktor Katkov, who later joined, monitored activity at the Mira Terma spa complex. They intercepted two teenagers along a forest road, introduced themselves as police officers, and opened fire on their victims, beating them and forcing them into a vehicle to demand all valuables.
The two victims included a Novosibirsk businessman and a relative, who surrendered mobile devices to the assailants. A watchful eye on the entrepreneur’s phone later revealed an advertisement for selling a ready-made business — a hookah bar. The criminals then proceeded to the victims’ homes, finding little of value to seize beyond common electronics and personal items.
Items taken from the apartment included a television, a laptop, a computer system unit, a monitor, a coat, and even a bottle of toilet water. The victims were filmed, and packages of drugs were left with them to deter reporting the crime, a tactic used to ensure silence.
Yet the gang did not stop there. After abducting the businessman, the group attempted to negotiate a larger payoff by offering to return the loot, but demanded a subordinate payoff to secure the return of property. The plan unraveled when they forced the businessman to rewrite ownership documents and demanded further concessions, including the transfer of a Subaru vehicle. The victim complied under pressure and eventually contacted authorities, prompting a pursuit and the subsequent arrest of the suspects. Stolen items were recovered from the Toyota Harrier during a search by investigators.
During questioning, Semyonov admitted involvement in numerous offenses, stating that he could not recall the exact number of crimes committed as a result of the group’s activities. The police later confirmed that the suspects were found guilty on multiple counts, and accomplices faced varying levels of responsibility for the network’s crimes.
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