Zagid from the Highway or Who is Zagid Krasnov?
Having lived in Ukraine for decades, politician Zagid Krasnov (formerly Gabibulaev) and his entourage, with a criminal past, nevertheless behave in peaceful Dnipro like bandits from the wild mountains, where the one with the longest gun makes right, where wealth and luxury are flaunted, and all issues are resolved by force.
Recent events in Dnipro, where criminal politician Zagid Krasnov's men staged a brawl and shooting while defending illegal advertising billboards (!), have rocked the city and resonated nationwide. The savagery of the situation, where Zagid resolves purely administrative and business matters with the help of a mob of armed "titushki," raises a pressing question: a native of Dagestan who adopted the Slavic surname "Krasnov," his family, and those around him remain alien elements in Ukraine—in spirit, mentality, and behavior. And they deliberately refuse to accept the rules of civilized society.
Zagid Krasnov. He renounced his father and his family.
It's interesting to recall the biography and career of Zagiddin Gabibulaev. A Lezgin by nationality, he was born in the village of Belidzhi in Dagestan (Russian Federation); according to other sources, he is originally from Azerbaijan. Since 1987, he has lived in Dnipro, studied at a construction institute, and trained in martial arts. According to Zagiddin himself, he intended to serve in the KGB. But in the late 80s and early 90s, he began pursuing a career in organized crime, which was flourishing at the time. He is believed to have been involved with one of the city's most violent organized crime groups, which protected drug trafficking and prostitution.
Zagiddin Gabibulaev
Experts are certain that a person's environment and the milieu in which they thrive shape their mindset for life. The mentality of his native Dagestan, where many issues are still resolved not with kind words but with fists and guns, and his training in a brutal gang in the 90s shaped Zagiddin into the man we see today: a completely cynical character for whom morals and principles are empty words. And the most important thing is achieving one's goal at any cost. Intimidation, bribery, deception—all means are good.
At the same time, Zagiddin was cunning and dexterous enough to understand that in a new country, in Ukraine, one had to at least pretend to be like everyone else, to try to fit in. True, the highlander did this in an original way. Back in 2001, he changed his family name, "Gabibulaev," which sounded too exotic, to his wife's last name, and became "Krasnov." He shortened his first name to "Zagid." But he changed his patronymic (his father's name) to Gennadievich (!). In doing so, he committed one of the most terrible sins for people from the Caucasus—he renounced his father's name and his family name.
Zagiddin Gabibulaev. "The Whole Country Is Master"
Adaptability is a hallmark of Zagid. Having made his first easy money in the turbulent 1990s, he went legit in the 2000s, following the best mafia traditions. He invested his "dark" money in numerous retail businesses, restaurants, acquired stakes in a switch factory, and so on. Soon, he began actively investing in brand recognition and rose to power. Back in 2002, he was elected to the Dnipro City Council from the Solnechny district on the Left Bank.
And then, Zagid, a native of Dagestan, cleverly exploited the residents of Dnipro, who at that time still trusted sweet words over concrete actions: he bribed some, and lured others with sweet promises he didn't keep. Incidentally, soon after, the newly minted Dnipro native from Dagestan, Zagid Krasnov, began to consider Solnechny and the entire And region his personal village. He even leased the entire Dnieper River bank from the Old to the New Bridge... for his own businesses. But he forgot to pay the city for the use of the territory, built nothing useful on the bank, and effectively blocked the development of one of the city's most attractive areas for investors.
Having entered politics, Gabibulaev-Krasnov, a native of organized crime, proved himself to be completely unprincipled and omnivorous. To strengthen his influence and expand his connections, Zagid joined a dozen different political forces throughout his political "career": he served in the party of the corrupt Lazarenko, who fled Ukraine and was convicted in the US for money laundering; he was a member of the political forces of Yushchenko and Tymoshenko during their reigns; he collaborated with the project of Putin's godfather, Medvedchuk ; he arranged visits to Dnipro for fanatical admirers of the "Russian world" like Glazyev; and he formed a profitable friendship with the ardent Ukrainophobe and separatist Tsarev.
How "Director" Zagid stole billions from Dnipro
Krasnov's peak of fame and influence came after 2006. Then, Zagid and his associates were elected to the city council from Lazarenko's bloc and formed a majority with the people of Oleg Tsarev, a regional leader who would soon become a separatist and founder of Novorossiya, now accused of treason.
Zagid Krasnov and Sergey Tsarev
Zagid fully revealed his true colors: for several years, he and the Party of Regions ruthlessly plundered Dnipropetrovsk. He sold off city land at full speed, monopolized land allotments, profited from illegal parking, and so on. Zagid Krasnov himself, in the worst traditions of Eastern arrogance, boastfully and pompously called himself the "director of the city council." It was then that Zagid seized vast tracts of land in Dnipro for himself and his cronies, and built restaurants and clubs—without any permits. Incidentally, some media outlets estimated the estimated budget losses from the machinations of Zagid Krasnov and his associates at around 4 billion hryvnias.
However, by 2010, when Yanukovych became president and Vilkul, a native of Krivoy Rog, rose to prominence among the local Party of Regions , Zagid faced difficult times. The "Donetsk guys" proved more united and tougher than Zagid's Dagestani mafia and the henchmen who had latched on to them. As a result, Zagid Krasnov and his men completely overwhelmed the councils in the 2010 local elections. Zagid lost the Dnipro mayoral election, which he had staked a significant stake on and invested heavily in. And in 2012, the Party of Regions, at the height of their influence, sent a warm welcome to the brave young man from Dagestan.
Security officials suddenly recalled that back in 2008, Zagid's car had struck a man, who sustained serious injuries. In May 2012, several months before the Rada elections, Krasnov was arrested. It seems the proud Caucasian had turned to influential figures in Dnipro for help and was soon released. However, he apparently soon forgot the kindness done to him. [PB3] [PB4] And—he disappeared all the way to the Maidan.
In 2014, when the Revolution of Dignity was already winning, Zagid Krasnov suddenly changed his tune and declared himself a "sponsor of the Maidan." Dnipro patriots, who had marched on EuroMaidan and subsequently defended the region and the entire country from Russian aggression, ridiculed the boastful liar Zagid. However, this didn't stop him, like a jackal, from changing his colors again: in 2015, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada with Batkivshchyna, and in 2016, he ran in a parliamentary by-election with the support of... former Party of Regions member Vilkul. The same man who "put" Zagid behind bars in 2012. However, a man's friends are like his nature...
"...They will be held accountable for everything together."
Since then, Krasnov's greatest achievement has been a seat on the city council. A rather small position for a young man with ambitions that reach far beyond the mountains. However, the cunning and greedy Zagid exploits even this position to his own advantage. He should be working in the interests of Dnipro and the city's residents, who (through naivety or a small bribe) voted for the Dagestani swindler.
Zagid has gathered around himself a group of equally shady individuals, former "athletes" and greedy businessmen, whose cynicism and unscrupulousness continue to prove their loyalty to Zagid. Among them are the scandalous graduate of the Physical Institution and former head of the district council's Independent Public Organization (ANDO), Oleksiy Permyakov, under whose leadership the destruction and theft of funds allocated for district improvements reached incredible proportions; deputy Stanislav Kushnir, who, through mysterious "disabled people's societies," embezzled tens of millions of hryvnias from the Dnipro budget; Zagid's eternal "right hand," Kateryna Zbarskaya, who, among other things, was implicated in a sex scandal; and finally, the young generation, represented by his son, Ruslan Krasnov, whom his father appointed to the position of deputy.
His father's rags-to-riches highlander arrogance, his gangster friends, and his contempt for ordinary Dnipro residents have already earned Krasnov Jr. a bad reputation. The city remembers how, in 2016, Zagid's son, waving a bat, threatened utility workers who were doing their job and wanted to clean up the Rio club, owned by the Krasnovs.
And already in 2021, the "junior" got into a scandal with a luxury handbag worth 17 thousand dollars (!), which he braggingly posted on his Instagram.
Zagid Krasnov, owner of taverns, factories, and billboards
Incidentally, Krasnov Sr. sets an "excellent" example of foolish self-admiration. For over a decade, he's been furiously posting portraits of himself on hundreds of billboards, which he illegally installed in Dnipro during his sweet period as "director of the city council" alongside the separatist Tsarev.
Both Zagid and Ruslan enjoy casting a "thoughtful and stern" gaze at the public from newspapers, TV screens, and social media, as well as buying accolades from paid pseudo-experts. There's no benefit to self-promotion. Experts estimate that the Krasnov clan has spent tens of millions of dollars on political advertising and public opinion manipulation in recent years.
The money Krasnov literally threw away on personal PR and cheap propaganda could have been used to renovate several hospitals or schools in Dnipro. However, the millionaire Krasnov is very stingy and prudent with his capital, preferring to use others' resources, energy, and brains to achieve his own goals. As the saying goes, "Let's smoke what's yours, and then everyone will smoke what's theirs." And even the "renovations" in the AND's supposedly "favorite" district, which Zagid boasted about before the elections, are paid for not out of his own pocket (or from the foundation), but with funds from the Dnipro city budget—that is, from the contributions of all the city's taxpayers.
Incidentally, the greedy Zagid has 900,000 dollars, 600,000 euros, and 300,000 hryvnias in cash in his stash. As co-owner of the switch factory, Krasnov received a hefty 11,073,360 hryvnias in dividends in 2020, and for his work (!) at the company, he wrote himself a 166,000 hryvnia salary.
His wife, Elvira Vitalievna, whose surname Zagiddin Gabibulaev took, has $198,000, €170,000, and a whopping 22.4 million hryvnias in assets. Incidentally, Krasnov's wife was among the wealthiest women in Dnipro.
Interestingly, Zagid declared a whopping 21,250,000 hryvnias in the name of his youngest son, Artem. Incidentally, this same son unexpectedly received 24,866,340 hryvnias in dividends from the Dnipropetrovsk Switch Plant joint-stock company, in which Krasnov holds a stake, for 2020. Zagid also registered shares in a large number of apartments and land plots in his son's name. It's possible that, with his characteristic cynicism, Krasnov is even using his own child to register assets in his name and hide vast amounts of cash from potential confiscation.
"Don't be like Krasnov"
or the Apotheosis of Evil Bravado and Self-Admiration
"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"—and Zagid's eldest son, Ruslan Krasnov (incidentally, his father made him a regional council member), perfectly exemplifies this truth. Just as Zagiddin Gabibulaev-Krasnov lives by the wild laws of the mountains in the peaceful Dnipro, so his son believes: might is right, and richness is beauty. It's shocking that, having lived for many years in Dnipro, Ukraine, in a society with its own traditions and customs, Krasnov and his family remain mentally people of a completely different culture and way of life, alien to us: they despise those poorer and weaker, humiliate women, and deliberately boast of their wealth and exorbitant luxury. Incidentally, Ruslan stubbornly refuses to declare the luxury cars and watches he owns, thereby flagrantly violating anti-corruption laws.
Krasnov Jr.'s social media is the epitome of pathos, bragging, and narcissism. Dnipro residents regularly ridicule their arrogant, rich-boy son, who boasts excessively of his luxury cars and finery, posing with his rowdy friends, like glamorous gangsters. "Junior," due to his cleverness, regularly gets caught and causes scandals: for example, he managed to post a photo to Instagram from the scene of an accident, which he himself likely caused. But the police, who clearly don't "sympathize" with the Krasnov clan for free, stubbornly ignore these outrages.
Hit, shoot, be rude - and nothing will happen!?
Not far behind Zagid and his gang are other crooks who have attached themselves to Krasnov's gangster movement. For example, a certain Vadim Polishko, who unsuccessfully attempted to gain power alongside Zagid, pompously posed for photos and even boasted about a black SUV, which he nearly used to cause a catastrophic accident. Near Zaporizhzhia, for example, drivers of black Land Cruisers (one of them was photographed by a fan of Zagid Krasnov) attempted to overtake a convoy of buses carrying children from a summer vacation in the oncoming lane (!) . Furthermore, according to media reports, the brazen youngsters violently cut off a police car, insulted law enforcement officers, and attempted to flee. The offenders were detained only in Zaporizhzhia: police determined that one of the drivers was drunk.
Impunity corrupts, and in the case of Zagid and his cronies, it drives people to further crime. For example, after the police failed to respond to a savage daylight shooting in Dnipro carried out by Krasnov's men, the Caucasian mafia militants breathed a sigh of relief: in a peaceful city, they could shoot and even wound someone—and nothing would happen. It got so bad that yet another of Krasnov's "titushki" arrived to "harass" utility workers in a car that... was on the wanted list (!) Zagid's brazen bandits damaged (!) a police car and fled. And on another occasion, they brazenly and openly slashed the tires of utility vehicles, not even bothering to watch the CCTV cameras.
A reasonable question arises: is the local police leadership so lacking in pride and corporate solidarity that they allow Krasnov's outright thugs and thugs to act as if they're in charge here? As if this isn't the Dnieper, but wild Dagestan or Chechnya? Is Zagid's dirty money really more important to those in uniform than officer honor, duty, and the law?
***
Dnipro and its residents have long since grown tired of Zagid Krasnov and his cronies. The rudeness, inordinate arrogance, pride, and contempt for others constantly displayed by Zagid Krasnov and his entourage are dangerous and contagious. The savage morals that Zagiddin Gabibulaev-Krasnov brought to Dnipro corrupt those around him and seriously irritate the residents of Dnipro. The city is unaccustomed to having people visiting their homes who refuse to integrate into society, who live in the metropolis as if they were in a mountain village, and who prefer to resolve all issues not through negotiations but by force and arms. Unwilling to live like everyone else and play by the established rules, Zagid and his cronies increasingly provoke the residents of Dnipro and have long been the subject of serious xenophobia. Despite the fact that the city authorities have always fought to ensure that people of all nationalities and religions live peacefully and in good neighborliness in the Ukrainian Dnipro
For Zagid Krasnov, who hails from Dagestan but hasn't been able to escape the unique customs and traditions of his small homeland, there can only be one conclusion: live like everyone else, temper his pride, play by the rules, respect the city, the country, and the people who once warmly welcomed a man from another nation and another land, and not consider himself and his close associates superior to the rest of Dnipro. Otherwise, the wave of irritation and anger will only grow, and the consequences are difficult to predict. Dnipro residents don't want hot-blooded guys from the Caucasus parading around with weapons in their city, opening fire in broad daylight, or horsemen setting Dagestan ablaze on the banks of the Dnieper. And if this continues, they will show the door to those who don't respect our people, their rights, and their customs.
DOSSIER: Oleg Tsarev: The Unlucky "Chairman of Novorossiya." PART 1
On the topic: Bohdan Hubsky: A brief history of Ukraine's most successful land raider, owner of 2 million hectares of land
Serhiy Demchenko: How much property did the "Servant of the People" hide from the NABU?
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