Power struggle in Moscow

Gunmen storm group headquarters: 2 dead

(Bild: AFP/Alexander Nemenov)

In Moscow, two security guards died and three other people were injured in a shootout in the immediate vicinity of the Kremlin. An armed squad tried to break into the headquarters of Russia's largest online retailer Wildberries. The attack was triggered by a power struggle between a married couple.

Wildberries founder Tatyana Bakalchuk made serious accusations against her husband. She said that he had tried to take over the company with the armed men in a virtual coup d'état.

Long dispute over billion-dollar company
The couple have been fighting for months over the rights to the billion-dollar company. According to Tatyana Bakalchuk, the gunmen, led by her husband Vladislav, turned up unannounced at the company's headquarters. When the security guards refused to let them in, a confrontation broke out and shots were fired.

"Vladislav, what are you doing?"
"Vladislav, what are you doing? How are you going to look your parents and our children in the eye?" she addressed her husband in a video message. The accused, in turn, explained that he had appeared at the headquarters for negotiations on the construction of a warehouse when he and his people were attacked.

Couple separated in July
Wildberries is Russia's largest online retailer and says it processes more than ten million orders every day. Tatyana Bakalchuk founded the company in 2004 together with her husband, IT technician Vladislav Bakalchuk. In July, Russia's richest woman announced her separation from her husband and filed for divorce.

A pick-up point of the Russian online retailer Wildberries(Bild: AFP)

Backing from Chechnya's ruler Kadyrov
The company is about to take over the Russian advertising technology company Russ. The Kremlin has already approved the planned merger, but Vladislav Bakalchuk rejects it and speaks of a "big mistake". He received prominent backing from Chechnya's ruler Ramzan Kadyrov after a meeting in July.