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- The Evil Empire: security forces stopped the activities of the Artakovsky criminal community
The Evil Empire: security forces stopped the activities of the Artakovsky criminal community
Criminal cases have been initiated against the participants and the alleged organizer of the Artakovskiye criminal community. They are charged with extortion, drug trafficking, organization of extremist activities and a number of other crimes. According to investigators, the criminal community had a clear hierarchical structure and included two stable, geographically isolated units. How it was possible to build a criminal "empire" — in the material of Izvestia.
From racketeering to extremism
Investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Chelyabinsk region have opened criminal cases on the grounds of crimes provided for in parts 1 and 2 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against the alleged organizer and participants of the Artakovsky criminal community. This was announced by the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk.
The defendants were 15 people. Depending on their role, they are charged with committing crimes under articles 126 (kidnapping), 163 (extortion), 213 (hooliganism), 228 (drug trafficking) and 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organizing the activities of an extremist organization).
Who is Artak Varosyan?
The alleged leader of the Artakovskys, Artak Varosyan, was born on October 6, 1985 in Armenia. He received Russian citizenship at the age of 14, and does not have another one. Secondary education — graduated from vocational school No. 91 in Chelyabinsk. He was officially listed as the commercial director of the Armenian Cultural Center LLC. He is married and has three children.
He was detained on November 26, 2025 by employees of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Chelyabinsk region. And on November 28, the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk sent him to jail. Later, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court dismissed the appeals of the defense, and Varosyan remained in custody.
He was previously convicted of fraud using electronic means of payment and for arbitrariness with the use of violence.
Criminal career: from debt collection to gold
Varosyan's criminal history can be traced back to at least 2014, when he helped a local reputable businessman, Sergei Greber, to "knock out" debts. According to court documents, Varosyan, at the head of the group, came to the debtors with weapons — an Osa pistol and a pistol similar to a PM. Varosyan did not admit guilt at that time, the court limited itself to a suspended sentence.
The Wasp pistol
At the same time, according to local security officials, since the early 2000s, he headed one of the criminal gangs in Chelyabinsk. His interests include extortion, raiding, trafficking in precious metals, and crimes against the person.
Varosyan had strained relations with the Azerbaijani diaspora and Chechen groups, however, he was able to "squeeze" Zelimkhan Polonkaev, a native of Grozny, out of the region, and then asked his friends in the Caucasus to seek the status of a "thief in law." In 2017, this issue was discussed at a gathering of the criminal world in the Chelyabinsk restaurant Ostap Bender, but it was decided that it was "too early for Varosyan to become a lawyer."
Empire's structure: general cash register and accounting department
According to investigators, the criminal community had a clear hierarchical structure and included two stable, geographically isolated units — in Chelyabinsk and Plast. They were led by three trusted accomplices between the ages of 23 and 54. They have involved more than a dozen more citizens in illegal activities.
Among the participants was a local resident with knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship and accounting. She helped to ensure the financial and economic activities of the group.
As Irina Volk noted, the criminal community was characterized by "a high degree of cohesion, strict discipline and a well-established conspiracy system." The accomplices had a so-called common cash register, which received income from illegal activities. This money was used for financial support of the band members, as well as persons serving sentences in places of imprisonment.
The connection with the AUE and the scale of the grouping
The investigation believes that the members of the organization adhered to the ideology of the movement "Convict Criminal Unity" (AUE), which was recognized as extremist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on August 17, 2020.
According to the investigation, the group included more than 600 participants, and more than 20 criminal cases were initiated. The curators of the organized criminal group involved minors in criminal activities — mainly representatives of the Armenian, Tajik and Uzbek diasporas — through physical pressure and propaganda of the AUE subculture, forcing them to engage in fraud and cashing out money.
Chronology of the sweep
The defeat of the "Artakovskys" began in November 2025 with the detention of Artak Varosyan. In December, security forces detained more than 10 alleged participants, including Denis Dubrovsky, whom sources called the "right-hand man of the criminal boss."
In addition, in February 2026, the alleged leader and members of another ethnic group associated with the Artakovskys were detained in Dagestan and the Chelyabinsk region. Law enforcement officers conducted 22 searches, seized weapons, prohibited substances and large amounts of money.
In March, during searches of the members of the organized crime group, precious metals obtained by criminal means at gold mining enterprises were found.
And in April, the security forces descended on the alleged leader of the organized criminal group "Vakhrushevskie" Alexander Vakhrushev. According to the investigation, he was also associated with Varosyan and illegal gold trafficking.
AYE as a tool: why extremism has become a weapon against organized crime groups
The accusation under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization) in the Artakovsky case is not a formality, but a deliberate legal move, says criminologist, author of the book "Notes of an Old Detective" Valentin Stanovov.
The recognition of AUE as an extremist movement in 2020 gave the security forces an additional lever to fight organized crime. Previously, the leaders of organized crime groups could be prosecuted mainly for specific crimes such as extortion, robbery, and kidnapping, but now membership in a structure that promotes "prison romance" and the cult of power has become criminalized.
Statistics by region show that article 282.2 is actively applied both in places of deprivation of liberty and outside. For example, in Tuva, an AUE participant received 5 years in a general regime penal colony for propagandizing ideology among acquaintances and people in places of detention. In the Smolensk region, a convict in a penal colony organized an AUE cell, he was sentenced to 2 years and 7 months of strict regime. In the Vladimir region, the organizer of the AUE cell was sentenced to 9 years of strict regime. And in the Amur region, eight members of an extremist association received from 2 years, 2 months to 5.5 years.
— For the Artakovskys, article 282.2 has become an additional episode that allows the investigation to link disparate crimes into a single structure and prove the existence of a criminal community. It was this — the organization of an organized criminal group under Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — that became the final and most serious charge," Stanovov believes.
By the way, the detention of the "Artakovskys" is not an isolated episode. The Chelyabinsk Region is considered one of the regions with a tense criminal situation, where stable organized criminal groups operate, often merging with extremist structures.
In November 2025, the Sovetsky District Court of Chelyabinsk recognized the Makhoninsky association as extremist and decided to transfer property worth about 2.5 billion rubles to the state revenue. The group's organizer, Alexander Makhonin, was arrested on his way out of court.
Thus, law enforcement agencies are systematically working to deconsolidate organized criminal groups. The current indictment of 15 defendants under Article 210 of the Criminal Code is the culmination of an operation that began with the detention of one person. The investigation is ongoing.
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