The court extended the arrest of the kingpin of Samara for three months

The Moscow Regional Court extended the preventive measure in the form of detention for three months to Sergei Stokozub, nicknamed Samarsky, accused of occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy, extortion and robbery. This was reported on July 8 by a correspondent of Izvestia from the courtroom.

The case also involves a second defendant, Amayak Galstyan, who is accused of extortion and robbery. The defendants plead not guilty. An operational officer who detained Stokozub acted as a witness in court.

"In 1997, a thievish approach was taken, if memory serves, in my opinion, on the birthday of Shishkan (the nickname of the criminal boss Oleg Medvedev. — Ed.), who is currently convicted by the Second Western District Military Court," he said.

The witness explained that there was a Ramenskoye Organized Criminal Community (OPS), which was run by Shishkan, where Stokozub was actively involved with the status of a "thief in law." His duties included: coordinating the actions of criminal groups, providing patronage, controlling money, and resolving conflicts in an organized criminal group (OCG).

According to the witness, the defendant continues to carry out his activities while in jail through "cell-to-cell communication: notes, pieces of paper." He noted that the defendants adhered to the ideology of the AUE subculture (the international public movement "Convict Criminal Unity", recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation).

According to investigators, in July 1997, Samarsky, who had been repeatedly convicted, was given the status of a "thief in law," and thus occupied the highest position in the criminal hierarchy.

Together with another defendant and their accomplice, in February 2014, with the threat of violence, they demanded that the General director of ElCom LLC transfer 2 million rubles and the right to use the legal entity's checking account to them. The man, fearing for himself and his loved ones, provided them with access to the company's checking account and gave the attackers more than 1.9 million rubles.

In addition, the defendants, together with an accomplice, the criminal case against whom has been separated into separate proceedings, stole two cars belonging to the victim, with a total value of almost 800 thousand rubles.

On November 10, 2025, the Moscow Regional Court extended the preventive measure in the form of detention for six months for Stokozub and Galstyan. At the same time, Stokozub's defense petitioned for a change in the preventive measure, arguing that there were no legitimate grounds for his continued detention. Stokozub pleaded not guilty to extortion, robbery and occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy.