Russia's Investigative Committee has terminated criminal proceedings against all four defendants in the murder case of Alexander Petrov, a deputy of the Vyborg district council in the Leningrad region, according to RBC, Fontanka, TASS, and RIA Novosti. The charges of murder and illegal weapons possession have been dropped, and all defendants have been released.
Vladimir Danilenko, a longtime business partner of Ilya Traber, left Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina detention center on the afternoon of September 1. According to Fontanka, his prosecution was dropped due to lack of involvement in the murder. Following him, Said Saladinov and former professional boxer Alisultan Nadirbegov, whom investigators had considered the alleged gunman, were also freed.
The case collapsed after the key prosecution witness, former prisoner of war Igor Lykov, gave testimony that investigators found contradictory and 'inconsistent,' RBC sources said. Traber's defense had earlier argued that Lykov's testimony was revenge for a prison sentence he blamed on both businessmen.
Lykov worked as a driver for Traber and Danilenko for about a year and a half, was convicted of fraud, then signed a contract with the Defense Ministry and was captured in Ukraine. After a prisoner exchange in May, he was interrogated in Moscow: according to Lykov, Danilenko offered him a role in Petrov's murder, and after his refusal, found other perpetrators for 50 million rubles.
Traber himself, a businessman with a criminal past close to Vladimir Putin, was released from Lefortovo prison in late August. His prosecution was dropped 'due to complete lack of involvement' in the murder. All defendants are now entitled to rehabilitation, including compensation for moral and material damage caused by their detention.