Zenit St. Petersburg’s player, Andrei Mostovoy, thwarted an attempted kidnapping outside a supermarket. The Russian national team footballer was ambushed by a group on Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg on October 24. As Mostovoy was about to enter his Mercedes G-Wagon, three masked individuals tried to forcibly take him into their minibus. Fortunately, his friend Alexander Grakun intervened, pushing the attackers away, allowing Mostovoy to escape into a nearby wooded area. Mostovoy later reported the incident to the police.
Grakun’s mother, Natalya, commended her son for his quick thinking, stating that he managed to overpower the kidnappers, causing them to retreat. Mostovoy expressed his shock over the incident in a video interview, emphasizing his disbelief that such events could still occur. Despite the ordeal, Mostovoy returned to training and scored a crucial goal for Zenit in a subsequent match against Dynamo Moscow.
Following the kidnapping attempt on Mostovoy, another individual, Sergei Selegen, was abducted by the same group but was later rescued by the police. The authorities managed to apprehend four suspects in connection with the incidents. A fifth individual was detained on suspicion of involvement in the kidnappings. The perpetrators are facing charges of kidnapping, robbery, and attempted kidnapping, with the St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office confirming their detention pending further legal proceedings.
The Moscow Times reported that one of the suspects claimed the kidnappings were intended as a “birthday prank,” while hinting at a foreign mastermind behind the schemes. The coordinated efforts of the Investigative Committee of Russia, the FSB, and local law enforcement led to the successful apprehension of the suspects.
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