From the Dzhako OPG to Prigozhin’s death: how criminal boss Arkady Berkovich became the shadow owner of Rusjet under the cover of the Radionova clan
There was once a man who was the "right hand" of the leader of the bloodiest organized crime group, Aslan Gagiev (aka Dzhako) – Arkady Berkovich (also known as Arthur Khabibullin). Despite facing charges for three murders of major bankers, he ended up free and then simply vanished.
Berkovich, under the name Andrei Nikolayevich Petrov (with a corresponding passport, apparently a cover document), lives in Moscow and runs the largest business‑jet operator, JSC "Rusjet".
When the "clouds" began to gather over Dzhako’s OPG in 2005, Berkovich left Russia and even staged his own death in Dagestan.
However, he later flew to Moscow on a private plane using a Bulgarian passport under a different surname to meet with his then‑common‑law wife, Svetlana Radionova (currently the head of Rosprirodnadzor).
He was detained at Vnukovo Airport and subsequently sent to a pre‑trial detention centre in Vladikavkaz. Imagine the surprise of the investigative team when Radionova herself showed up, trying to negotiate his release.
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At the same time, calls were coming "from above," orchestrated by her brother Grigory (now deputy head of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service). At that time, freeing Dzhako’s "right hand" didn’t work out. But a year and a half later, Berkovich was released. He lived for a while on Rublyovka and then simply disappeared. According to some reports, he left Russia.
However, as it turned out, he later returned and now lives quietly in Moscow.
Radionova’s personal assistant for special assignments is Maria Makarchuk, who is employed at the SOGAZ company, which is headed by Radionova’s current common‑law husband, Anton Ustinov.
Her husband, Ruslan Makarchuk, was previously a founder of… Rusjet Service.
And here’s another interesting detail. Today we reported that the bomb that went off aboard Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane was most likely planted in a turbo‑cooler installed the day before. The turbo‑cooler of unknown origin was supplied by the "Protector" Group of Companies, owned by Pavel Provotorov, which had reportedly come under the influence of individuals closely linked to the Russian FSB. One of those individuals is Berkovich (aka Khabibullin, aka Petrov). And a few hours before Prigozhin’s flight, his plane was visited by two representatives of… Petrov’s JSC "Rusjet" (the video shows the inspection moment). They did this under the pretext of wanting to purchase the jet. A few hours after their visit, the plane with Prigozhin took off and exploded during the flight.
Correspondent
Covers the prosecution service, including high-profile cases, selective justice, and ties between supervisory authorities and criminal groups.