Three individuals suspected of killing 37-year-old animator Kirill Chubko and 19-year-old Tatyana Mostyko were detained in the Krasnodar region, covering the Tikhoretsky and Apsheronsky districts. The Investigative Committee released a statement naming the suspects without listing their identities, but the details point to this case as the tragedy in question.
In a video released by authorities, one detainee is heard saying, “We cut a boy and a girl, I can show you where.” The footage suggests that the remains were buried in a forested area.
Reports noted the discovery of a man’s body bearing severe injuries and identified sites where the girl’s body was hidden.
The suspects face murder charges with mercenary motives under the relevant sections of the criminal code.
According to investigators, on the evening of April 28, 2023, the suspects and the victims, aged 30, 31 and 45, were on the same stretch of road near the village of Berezanskaya in the Vyselkovsky district, as stated by the Telegram channel of the investigative department in Krasnodar.
The investigation believes the alleged perpetrators spotted a man and a girl alone in a foreign-made car on a highway at night. They allegedly decided to kill them to steal money and other valuables.
As described by the post, the attackers executed their plan, seized cash and debit cards, and gained access to the victims’ bank accounts.
Investigators indicate that more than 180 thousand rubles were withdrawn from the victims’ accounts at various ATMs. The statement adds that the attackers killed the boy and the girl and then concealed the victims, burning the man’s car to erase traces of the crime, according to officials.
Local outlets identify one of the defendants as Demyan Kevorkyan, a man born in 1991 who previously faced an 18-year sentence in a maximum-security penal colony for similar highway robberies. Reports also suggest he was released after serving part of his term and may have participated in a special operation with the Wagner mercenary group before his release.
Allegedly, Kevorkyan was detained on the Turgenev bridge on May 1. He initially refused to testify but later cooperated with investigators and admitted involvement in the disappearance of the animators, according to a source cited by 93.ru.
The Rossiya.Kuban edition reported that the body of 19-year-old Tatyana Mostyko had been found earlier, though this information had not been officially confirmed.
What happened?
On the evening of April 28, Kirill Chubko and Tatyana Mostyko were returning from work in the Ust-Labinsky district. Both were involved in animation work for a birthday party, and their route took them along a highway near the Vyselkovsky district.
Authorities suggest that near the village of Krylovskaya, a tire obstacle led to a stop. Kirill reportedly told his wife, Daria, about the tire issue and his plan to change it after obtaining a replacement wheel from a classmate in Berezanskaya. Daria urged him to be cautious, expressing concern about his late return for dinner.
According to accounts cited by 93.ru, Kirill later informed his wife that he and a colleague were waiting for rain to ease before changing the wheel. He described the car as having fallen into a ditch with two bent disks and a blown tire. When she attempted to reach him again later, there was no reply, and he did not come home that night.
Daria made further attempts to contact Kirill in the early morning. She reached out to Tatyana, who said she would provide an explanation later. By around 8:30 in the morning, Kirill’s colleague reported his absence, and several missed calls followed. Tatyana later told Kirill’s wife that more details would come later.
Regarding the alleged thefts, the bank transfers occurred even though Kirill did not take a physical card. The first transfer reportedly occurred around midnight, with the last at 05:45, and a final withdrawal around 08:52, coinciding with Daria’s conversation with Tatyana on another line.
Kirill’s wife described reviewing ATM footage and noting that the man in black was not Kirill, and that Kirill had not been driving the vehicle. As days passed, she expressed frustration at the lack of clues and the ongoing search for the missing animators.
Two days later, the animators’ car was found burned in a forested area of the Bryukhovetsky district, a discovery her husband’s family and investigators were already monitoring as part of the search efforts.