act provocatively in court
At the district court in Novosibirsk, verdicts were announced for members of the Semenovskie gang. The case follows a pattern seen in many organized crime investigations where a central figure is used as a reference point for jurists and investigators.
Four individuals faced the bench, with total sentences approaching fifty years. The gang leader, Mikhail Semyonov, received fifteen years and one month. Vladimir Sheidel was sentenced to thirteen years and one month, Valery Panyushkin to twelve years and one month, and Viktor Katkov to seven years and nine months. All four are slated to serve their terms in a strict-regime penal facility.
Prosecutors attributed nineteen criminal acts to the group across a span of six months, from late 2019 to early 2020. The charges included theft, armed robbery, extortion, fraud, banditry, arms trafficking, and damage or theft of documents.
Throughout the trial, the defendants offered defiant remarks, attempting to disrupt the proceedings in various ways. Semyonov claimed medical distress, alleging a bleeding mouth and asking for medical assistance, while another defendant cited high blood pressure. The sentencing hearings extended over two days.
Prison accomplices found
The gang’s leader, a 25-year-old named Mikhail Semyonov, hails from Krasnokamensk in the Trans-Baikal Territory and has a documented criminal history. As a youth, he was convicted of theft with a suspended sentence, and later faced additional charges for fraud, robbery, and property damage, leading to a real sentence in adulthood.
Semyonov served time in a penal colony in the Novosibirsk region, where he met Vladimir Sheidel and maintained contact after release. Prosecutors noted that Semyonov was released on October 11, 2019, and the next day began organizing a criminal network. Semyonov and Sheidel recruited Valery Panyushkin from Novosibirsk to join the operation, with Panyushkin acting as the chief scout for potential victims due to his familiarity with the city.
The initial plan targeted drug addicts and pawnbrokers, with Panyushkin playing the role of strategist and scout. The logic rested on the belief that drug users and couriers would avoid reporting crimes to avoid legal trouble themselves.
“It was terrible”
Panyushkin suggested locations in Novosibirsk where illegal drug activity was common, 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 execute the robbery plan.
Their approach was clear and widely understood: attackers would pose as police officers, apply force, and seize belongings. An investigative statement noted that gun threats were used to compel compliance, moving victims from apartments to other sites where valuables could be taken. The stolen items were then handed to suspects or pawned for fast cash.
Residents of the Oktyabrsky and Dzerzhinsky districts, where the gang operated, began avoiding solitary walks and aimed to return home before dusk to reduce risk.
One local, speaking anonymously, recalled a climate of fear that pushed neighbors to band together for safety. A resident noted that fear had altered daily routines for many families, prompting proactive steps to protect loved ones.
Another neighbor described how fear reshaped family habits, with adults taking extra precautions to keep children indoors after school and adjusting commutes to minimize danger.
They beat and took everything
As the investigation progressed, the Semenovski crew widened targets beyond loan sharks and drug dealers. In March 2020, Semyonov, Panyushkin, Sheidel, and an associate Viktor Katkov, who later joined, observed activity at the Mira Terma spa complex. They intercepted two teenagers along a forest road, identified themselves as police officers, and opened fire on the victims, beating them and forcing them into a vehicle to seize valuables.
The two victims included a Novosibirsk businessman and a relative who surrendered mobile devices. A watch 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 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 aimed at silencing witnesses.
Yet the gang did not stop there. After abducting the businessman, the group tried to negotiate a larger payoff by offering to return the loot, but demanded a subordinate payment to secure the return of property. The plan began to unravel 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, triggering a chase and the eventual arrest of the suspects. Stolen items were recovered from the Toyota Harrier during a police search.
During questioning, Semyonov admitted involvement in numerous offenses, stating that he could not recall the exact number of crimes due to the scale 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.