A source for the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info described how Ilya Traber (Antikvar)'s attitude toward his "brother," the owner of Vyborg, Alexander Petrov, changed, what triggered the murder, and who likely carried it out.
"Until 2019, Traber doted on Alexander Petrov. He often reminisced and liked to tell stories about how, after Nina's (Nina Menshikova, Traber's wife – Ed.) persuasion, he gave Vitaly Petrov a "$25 million racing car." (Apparently, this refers to sponsoring Alexander Petrov's son's Formula 1 participation – Ed.) Nina generally viewed Vitaly as a son.
From fragments of conversation, the following picture emerged. Danilenko ("Traber's right-hand man - ED.) said that Sasha Petrov was being tailed, that they wanted to take Vyborg away, and that he was planning to leave for permanent residence abroad, which led to disagreements with Traber. But clearly, nothing critical had happened yet. Petrov continued to frequently visit 14 Starorusskaya Street (Traber's headquarters - ED.). Danilenko once let it slip that Traber wanted $38 million from Petrov, believing he owed him the money because of his planned departure, but Petrov disagreed. After that, Petrov stopped visiting Starorusskaya Street. Then Traber, Danilenko, and some of Traber's high-ranking acquaintances summoned Petrov to a meeting in Moscow. He didn't show up. Moreover, Danilenko let it slip that Petrov "bared his teeth" at Traber.
From then on, Petrov was spoken of only in negative terms. Danilenko used phrases like "he's become a cop," "he's just talking nonsense," and so on and so forth. Then COVID hit, and in the midst of it, Danilenko drove from St. Petersburg to Moscow to see Abakar Darbishev (a major crime boss close to Traber - EDIT) . After that, Abakar and his gang began traveling to St. Petersburg as if they were "going to work." The assassination was underway. And then Petrov was gone (he was shot by a sniper on October 24, 2020 - EDIT). Who was the shooter? I think Darbishev himself. He was very "friendly" with a sniper rifle, idolized Traber, and could have carried out the assassin's orders himself. Moreover, he had done so before.
Alexander Petrov was indeed killed by a top professional. The owner of Vyborg increased security, and his estate on the banks of the Velikaya River was inaccessible. On the evening of October 24, he was in the bathhouse at his estate. When he emerged and was illuminated by a lantern, a single shot rang out, which proved fatal. A sniper was firing from the other side of the river.
Darbishev can't be asked anything anymore. He was beaten to death by detectives during his arrest.
