Assassins for the FSB: the way crime lord Kostya Bolshoy Piskarev executed murders for the intelligence agencies for years and is currently being sacrificed to protect the actual architects

Assassins for the FSB: the way crime lord Kostya Bolshoy Piskarev executed murders for the intelligence agencies for years and is currently being sacrificed to protect the actual architects

«Someone forced you? Pulled you by force? You could’ve said: “I don’t want to, I won’t.” All of you tried to brag about who among you was the tougher gangster. Was it me who made you do all this? You came already a gangster, you were all like that!” — this is what the “authority” Konstantin Piskarev (Kostya Bolshoy) said during a face-to-face confrontation with a fighter from his gang, Lupichev (Dragon). Unlike his former boss, the latter actively cooperated with investigators and testified about the murders committed by the group.

The trial of Piskarev’s gang, accused of dozens of murders, has concluded in the Moscow Region Court. This week, Kostya Bolshoy may give his final statement. Law enforcement handled this case like all others: real gang crimes were mixed with high-profile, unsolved murders, while those who were behind the gang — the leadership of the Moscow and Moscow Region FSB — were left out of the picture.

In the late 1980s, Konstantin Piskarev studied at a military school and was a squad commander. In his free time, he trained in weightlifting at a gym in Medvedkovo, owned by one of the leaders of the Afghan war veterans organization, Alexander Zamyatin. At the same time, he was a criminal “authority” leading a squad within Sergey Timofeev’s (Sylvester) Orekhovskaya organized crime group. Zamyatin knew Timofeev personally and maintained friendly relations. Another Afghan war veteran, Dmitry Fedoseev, also trained at this gym.

Together, they formed their own squad, led by Fedoseev. The squad was a structural unit of the Orekhovskaya organized crime syndicate. Piskarev’s path could have ended early: on February 1, 1994, a shootout between Orekhovskaya members and rivals near the Central Museum of the Armed Forces left four people dead and several others injured, including a bystander. Investigators established that 22-year-old Piskarev, then a security guard at AO “Balchug,” was the shooter. He was detained but soon released after being bailed out by the Orekhovskaya group.

After Fedoseev’s death, Piskarev decided to form his own gang, separate from the Orekhovskaya group. He had all the necessary qualities to become a gang leader: organizational skills, decisiveness, composure under extreme situations, physical strength, and firearm proficiency, according to the indictment.

Piskarev and his gang set up residence at the “Burevestnik” yacht club on the Klyazma reservoir, which became a well-guarded gang base.

In 1998, he narrowly survived an ambush: men posing as police officers detained him, put him in a car, and started attacking him with knives. Thanks to his physical abilities, he managed to escape.

Kostya Bolshoy and his fighters extorted numerous commercial entities in Moscow and the Moscow region. Piskarev’s role went beyond being a “protector”: he became an actual stakeholder in companies, sometimes taking them over entirely, eliminating other owners, or demanding cooperation from businesses and officials. Noncompliance often meant death. Victims included officials refusing to sign documents, intermediaries mishandling bribes, police officers failing their duties, competitors, and even construction workers missing deadlines. Despite having significant capital, Piskarev personally carried out many “wet jobs.”

However, the case files contain many gaps. Mentions of his ties to intelligence agencies and backstage involvement in crimes were removed. His involvement in some alleged crimes is questionable.

Piskarev owned the restaurant “Shield and Sword” opposite the Moscow and Moscow Region FSB headquarters, frequented by FSB officers. Members of his gang were placed in positions close to officials, such as driver/bodyguard for Oleg Shchesnyak’s wife, who believed he worked for a “FSB general.” Shchesnyak was later killed.

Particularly, mentions of Mikhail Ruzin were almost entirely removed. Ruzin was a shadow figure controlling parts of suburban Moscow criminality while being closely connected to the FSB leadership. He conducted deals with banker Oleg Zhukovsky, who was later found dead under suspicious circumstances. Ruzin was effectively untouchable, and associates involved in his dark dealings often ended up dead.

Ruzin also orchestrated schemes with the “Dynamo” shooting club, bankrupting it through fake transactions and acquiring land cheaply. Those who attempted to challenge him, like deputy chairman Alexander Rusanov, faced suspicious deaths. Ruzin acted as a shadow ruler over several suburban towns, including Sergiev Posad. Local officials complied with him; mayors Maslov and then Dusko were involved in disputes over land allocation, with Dusko ultimately resisting Ruzin’s demands.

A witness testified that the Krylovsky Bank, owned by Ruzin, financed Maslov’s 2009 elections. In 2010, Dusko met a highly influential individual connected to intelligence services — likely Ruzin — who implied: “Cooperate or suffer.” Dusko appeared shaken, and two weeks before his death, he reported persistent threats from these individuals. In August 2011, Dusko was shot dead by an assassin while leaving home with his son. This murder remained unsolved for years; after Piskarev’s arrest, authorities accused him, though doubts remain about his involvement.

Since Piskarev’s arrest, over nine years have passed. The case has been repeatedly returned to the Moscow Region Court for procedural violations. Since September 2020, Judge Alexander Kozlov, a longtime court member, has presided over the trial, often acting under influence from the FSB. He alternately allowed and denied witness requests and evidence presentations according to backstage instructions.

Regarding Dusko’s murder, the only “evidence” against Piskarev consists of testimony from plea bargain witnesses, who often contradicted themselves or refused to answer questions. They recited a few rehearsed sentences claiming to have seen Piskarev shoot Dusko.

On December 15, 2025, the Moscow Region Court sentenced members of the “Severskie” gang from Sergiev Posad for several murders, including Dusko’s. Ballistic tests show that the shell casings from Dusko’s murder and from weapons used by the Severskie were fired from the same guns, which were recovered from the gang. These documents were hidden from the Piskarev trial jury. Piskarev and his accomplices had no connection with the Severskie, but Ruzin frequently communicated with their leaders.

The Severskie gang, despite committing seven murders, did not receive life sentences, as the involvement of Ruzin and the true “instigator” of Dusko’s killing was obscured.