Mylnikov Case Summary

Mylnikov's partner, while he himself is a common blackmailer. At that time, apparently sensing exposure, Mylnikov disappeared from Moscow.

Mylnikov himself, during the investigation, at the trial, and in conversation with members of the Commission, denied that he wrote and sent the threatening letters. According to him, he might have written the manuscript appearing in the case later at the request of the investigator for purposes unknown to Mylnikov.

Based on the testimony of 17-year-old Anzhelika Tumasyan (she handed over Mylnikov's manuscript to the FSB) and a handwriting expert analysis, Moscow City Court judge Marina Komarova found Mylnikov guilty of an act of terrorism and sentenced him to 6 years and 8 months of strict regime imprisonment. A subsequent cassation appeal from lawyer Evgeny Chernousov was left unsatisfied by the Supreme Court.

Mylnikov did not appear at the final court session where the sentence was read; he was placed on a wanted list and, according to as-yet unconfirmed information from his lawyer, was detained several months later.

In a conversation with a member of the Commission, Natalya Zander—the woman whose release Mylnikov had demanded—confirmed the investigation's version in general terms. Zander categorically denies the possible involvement of other acquaintances of hers or her husband's friends in writing the threatening letters, let alone in the explosions themselves.

Questions and Perplexities

The main question that arises when reviewing the Mylnikov case: why did the investigation and the court not want to investigate the episode of Mylnikov's arrival at the MVD on August 31 and September 1, 1999?

As we know from the response of the Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Service of the Main Directorate for Combating Illegal Drug Trafficking of the MVD of the RF, M.G. Melikhov (No. 9/9-2440 dated September 25, 2002), it was on those very days that Mylnikov approached UBNoN officer V.M. Kirienkov with information about possible explosions in Moscow.

This information took the form of messages on his pager (No. 974-01-11, subscriber 777556) with the following content:

• "If tomorrow N. is not home, there will be a big salute" (August 30, 1999);
• "We promised and we will do it. We are waiting for the issue to be resolved. Your friends" (September 1, 1999).

As it became known, including from Mylnikov's interrogation in the court session, after his second arrival with the specified message, which took place immediately after the explosion on Manezh Square on August 31 (unlike the first one, which preceded this explosion), he was questioned by one of the heads of the UBNoN MVD RF and an FSB representative seconded to him. Based on the results of the conversation on September 3, an official letter was sent to the UFSB for Moscow and the Moscow Region, signed by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, in which the information provided above was reported.