Vladislav Bakalchuk, the estranged husband of Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim, credited Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov with helping him stay alive and out of jail amid a family dispute over a controversial business merger that escalated into a shootout at the company’s headquarters last week.
Bakalchuk made those comments in an interview just days before he led a group of men to the main office of Wildberries in Moscow on Sept. 18, resulting in a deadly shootout and his subsequent arrest on multiple felony charges, including murder. Two security officers were killed during the altercation.
“They [Kadyrov’s team] offered help. Thanks to this, I believe I’m still alive and not in jail,” Bakalchuk said in an interview with the Russian YouTube channel “Millionshchiki.”
In July, Bakalchuk sought Kadyrov’s help to prevent Wildberries, which he co-founded with Kim in 2004, from merging with the advertising firm Russ Group. Kim announced she planned to divorce her husband shortly after Kadyrov publicly vowed to “return her to the family and protect a legitimate business.”
On Thursday, Bakalchuk’s lawyers said he was charged with multiple criminal offenses following last week’s shooting incident outside the Wildberries headquarters. They slammed the charges an “unprecedented violation” and insisted that security guards at the office building open fire on Bakalchuk and the men accompanying him.
The next day, Bakalchuk released a video on Telegram, claiming he was released from police custody and returned home — a surprising development, as legal experts say it is nearly impossible for a murder suspect to be released on bail.
In the “Millionshchiki” interview, Bakalchuk said he and his Kim had built a friendship with Kadyrov’s “representatives” more than eight years ago.
“They’ve been helping us for eight years. When all this [Wildberries-Russ merger] happened, I went to him [Kadyrov] again for advice,” he said.
Bakalchuk also mentioned that his last conversation with Kim took place in late June, adding that “she was very angry that I was talking with friends from Grozny [in Chechnya].”
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