Igor talkov last circumstances of death. The mystery of the death of Igor Talkov: how it was

A talented poet and musician admired those around him with his determination. Igor Talkov could remain a restaurant singer, but he felt that he could achieve more. And so it happened: after the composition “Clean Prudy”, popularity fell on the vocalist.

Despite the appearance in the life of a crowd of fans, Talkov spent 12 years married to his wife Tatyana. The wise woman turned a blind eye to her husband's fleeting hobbies. The musician turned out to be a wonderful father, doted on his son and predicted a great future for him. But Igor was not destined to see how the heir would grow up and continue his work.

On October 6, 1991, behind the scenes of the Sports Palace in St. Petersburg, the singer became a participant in a brawl that turned into a shootout. The bullet hit right in the artist's heart. But who exactly pulled the trigger and killed Igor Talkov? And why are relatives sure that the vocalist foresaw his own death? These questions have haunted the family and friends of the performer for almost three 10 years.

MUSICIAN, POET AND ACTOR

The family of the future artist came from an ancient noble family. Relatives of Igor Talkov became victims of repression. After rehabilitation, they settled in the village of Gretsovka, Tula Region, where Igor was born. The gifted boy spent his childhood in the city of Shchekino: there was the nearest decent school. Talkov's main passion was hockey, he also took accordion lessons, and then mastered the guitar and piano. In high school, the young musician created the Guitarists group.

During one of the rehearsals, Igor lost his voice. The problem was exacerbated by chronic laryngitis. Thanks to breathing exercises, the vocalist was able to develop ligaments, but the characteristic hoarseness, for which the whole country later fell in love with him, remained forever.

In addition, Talkov was seriously interested in the profession of an actor and, after graduating from secondary education, went to conquer the theater university of the capital. However, the exam in literature, unlike the creative competition, the applicant failed. Disappointed, Igor returned home and joined the Tula Fanta group. Here, a simple truth was revealed to the amateur musician: he knew how to play, but he did not know the notes, and his colleagues only learned new songs in this way. A teacher named Svetlana helped him deal with this problem. The vocalist dedicated his hit "Memory" to the mentor. However, the artist did not have a romantic relationship with her.

“We were young, everyone then loved “shouldered” and tall, and Igor was red-haired, big-nosed, big-eared. But it was very interesting to communicate with him, he was very charming, ”recalled Talkov’s classmate in the documentary“ Igor Talkov. "I'm without you, like without skin."

Mom insisted on Igor's admission to a "useful", in her opinion, university. So Talkov got to the Physics and Mathematics of the Pedagogical Institute of Tula. He stayed there for a short time, because he had no interest in the exact sciences. The artist’s studies did not work out at the University of Culture either: having criticized the education system, a year later he joined the army.

Being in the ranks of the engineering troops, Talkov organized the Zvyozdochka ensemble. After demobilization, he firmly decided to make a living with music. Soon the vocalist left for Sochi, where he began performing with Alexander Barykin's group. But concerts in restaurants seemed humiliating to the singer, and he made every effort to break through to the big stage.

From the mid-80s, Igor began touring with the team of Lyudmila Senchina and working as an arranger for Stas Namin. At the same time, Talkov was actively writing songs: “Vicious Circle”, “Devoted Friend”, “Hour Before Dawn”. They started talking about the musician when he began performing in a duet with Irina Allegrova in the Electroclub group. And after the appearance of the hit “Clean Prudy” in the program “Song of the Year”, every passer-by recognized the artist.

However, Igor wanted to create not only lyrical ballads, but also songs with social overtones. Therefore, he left the group and created his own team, Lifebuoy. After the broadcast of the video "Russia" on television, the artist was already called a legend.

But Talkov did not forget about his old dream of becoming an actor. The opportunity to play in a movie presented itself to him in the 80s thanks to an invitation to the short film Lyric Song and participation in the drama Pimp Hunt. Then Igor agreed to play the role in the film "Prince Silver", but the experience was not the best: during the filming, not only the director and the name of the tape changed to "Tsar Ivan the Terrible", but also the genre. A comedy-farce came out of the historical project, which disappointed the artist. Much more he liked to work on the action movie "Beyond the last line."

FORGIVING LOVE

Girls liked the musician and easily made acquaintances, in which a bright image helped him: long hair, a beard, jeans, a stylish coat - in the late 70s, these attributes attracted the attention of others. As often happens, Igor Talkov fell in love with the woman who at first chose to ignore him.

In 1979, the artist was a regular at the Metelitsa club. One evening, he noticed a bright brunette in the center of the hall. Twice Igor invited her to dance, but she stubbornly refused. “I was afraid that they wanted to take advantage of me, and he was surprised that some oriental girl sent him off. When he nevertheless appeared in my life, it was as if the curtains opened, he showed me a different reality. After a couple of days, I realized that I fell in love unconditionally, ”said Tatyana Talkova many years later.

That night, almost all the girls in the club were waiting for an invitation to dance from the musician, why did he choose Tatyana from the crowd? Perhaps this is due to Talkov's passion for the work of John Lennon. The Russian artist admired the British, and often compared his Tanya with Lennon's lover, the Asian artist Yoko Ono.

“She is still beautiful, but then she was a chiseled little Japanese woman, at the same time, with a strong character, even more powerful than Igor’s. He shared everything with her like a little child. It was boundless trust, ”explained Tatyana’s friend Irina Tretyakova.

A year after they met, Talkov married a chosen one, and soon the couple had a son, Igor. The family has become the meaning of the life of a musician. “I was in first place for Igor, I'm sure of it. He never betrayed me. He was 150 percent sure of me, ”Tatyana shared.

In the mid-80s, the Talkovs and their three-year-old son finally moved into their own apartment: a tiny "kopeck piece" in the south of Moscow. Money was sorely lacking, and the musician increasingly went on tour to feed his family.

But he was interested not only in rock music and concerts, considering the theatrical project in a duet with Margarita Terekhova to be the main milestone of his work. The artist's wife knew that Igor idolized the actress, and therefore let him go to work with a heavy heart.

“There was something to say here. A brilliant actress, an amazing woman, first of all they were connected by creativity, but who can resist? But we won it, ”Tatiana emphasized.

Was there an idyll in their family life? Once, Talkov's wife calculated that the maximum time of harmony lasted seven months. Then other women burst into their world again. Tatyana got rid of all her friends who pose a danger to her marriage, but could the fans be stopped?

“I knew everything about his personal life, sometimes I said that it hurt me to hear it, but he assured me that no one else would understand him like that. Packing up and leaving is not my story. I still wanted to stay with Igor. He said: “Tan, without you, I’m like without skin. If you tear off a person’s skin, he doesn’t live, so I can’t either. ” And he was everything to me, ”the widow justified her husband.

MYSTERIOUS DEATH

October 6, 1991 was the last day of the life of Igor Talkov. He came to a combined concert at the Yubileiny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg. Behind the scenes, a conflict broke out over the order of the performers' exits: the common-law husband of the singer Aziza, Igor Malakhov, tried to convince the organizers and the Talkov team to give way to her.

The quarrel got out of control, and five minutes before the performance in the dressing room of Igor Talkov, a skirmish began between him and Malakhov. Everything happened very quickly: the guards dragged Aziza's beloved into the corridor, he took out a revolver, the concert director of the musician Valery Shlyafman shouted about the presence of a weapon at the troublemaker. Talkov's reaction was to get a gas pistol and shoot at the offender, but either the cartridges turned out to be faulty, or expired, but there was no effect.

The guards attacked the discouraged Malakhov, and he fired two shots: into the air and into the floor. However, in the confusion, someone pulled the trigger for the third time, hitting Igor Talkov right in the heart. The musician died in a matter of minutes, and the examination proved that he simply had no chance of surviving.

Charges were brought against Aziza's chosen one, but the results of the investigation confirmed that he could not shoot Talkov. Malakhov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for illegal possession of weapons. After a high-profile case, the man disappeared for almost 20 years, and in 2016 it turned out that he lived under a different name in the village until he died of a serious illness.

Valery Shlyafman became the main suspect in the murder. It was assumed that he could grab the revolver from Malakhov's hands and accidentally shoot Talkov. It seemed strange to investigators that the concert director left the country for Israel four months after the tragedy. The local authorities refused to try Shlyafman, and only 22 years later he declared on the air of the Vesti program that he was innocent.

“If Shlyakhman is not guilty of anything, then he must come, go through the court procedure, justify himself and remain unsullied. And he ran away. And now he is an Israeli citizen. He went abroad as a witness, and became a suspect while already there. And in this capacity, no one interrogated him, ”said Irina Krasilnikova, a friend of the Talkovs, in the Distant Friends program.

Together with Tatyana Talkova last year, Irina decided to file an application with the investigative committee in order to reopen the criminal case on the murder of the musician. Krasilnikova is sure that the singer's death was the end of a long-standing persecution led by his concert director. The artist's wife remembers very well how Igor was threatened by phone. In recent months, he seemed to have a premonition of trouble.

“He was acting weird. He said goodbye to us, saying that he was sorry to leave me alone, that they would crush me. At first I didn’t understand what it was about,” the widow shared.

Krasilnikova and Talkov are also suspected of involvement in the crime and the artist's last mistress Elena. “This is a friend of Shlyakhman, he once asked her to attach. Igor just helped. Now this citizen suddenly decided after 20 years to sell it all. Said she was pregnant. Yes, it was, however, two years after Igor's death from some alcoholic. And there was a miscarriage. I am convinced that she was introduced into the Talkov group on purpose. And, most likely, he will move from the category of witnesses to the category of accomplices, ”Irina emphasized.

28 years have passed, but peace in the hearts of those close to Igor Talkov did not reign. His son has become an artist, performs his father's compositions and sees no point in reopening the criminal case. Talkov Jr. understands that the parent cannot be returned. The young man is not so important who pulled the trigger: he is more concerned with the ideological aspect of the tragedy, the reasons why his father was destroyed in public.

Memories of that fateful day still torment Aziza. After the incident, she was harassed, broke up with Igor Malakhov, lost her child and left the stage for several years.

But only the singer managed to resume her work and make peace with the Talkov family, as one careless statement again put her reputation at risk. The artist spoke about the connection of the deceased musician with crime, noting that she was shocked by the situation when Igor Talkov tried to introduce her to criminals. Relatives of the author of "Clean Prudy" immediately denied the words of the performer. Apparently, the participants in the story will have to wait a long time for a happy ending.

Photo: a frame from the film “Beyond the Last Line”, a frame from the documentary “Igor Talkov. "I'm without you, like without skin" Channel One, Legion Media, a frame from the Vesti program on the Russia 1 channel, a frame from the program "Far Close" on the channel "Russia 1"

What happened

Writer Fyodor Razzakov in his book "A Dossier on the Stars. Behind the Scenes of Show Business" and the media described in detail the events of that day.

On October 6, a gala concert was held at Yubileiny, in which the singer Aziza (Mukhamedova) and Igor Talkov were supposed to take part. The conflict allegedly arose over who would be the first to take the stage. So, Aziza's friend Igor Malakhov allegedly demanded that she be later. Talkov's administrator Valery Shlyafman was categorically against it.

Around 16:00 Malakhov approached Talkov's dressing room and announced his desire. They began to argue with Shlyafman, a skirmish ensued. Talkov's administrator shouted a conditional: "Ours are being beaten," after which the singer flew out of the dressing room with a gas pistol in his hands. And Malakhov turned out to have a revolver of the 1895 model. Aziza's friend shot at the floor, after which the guards, who were on site, twisted his hands.

The pistol, which had two more rounds in it, flew out of his hands. A few seconds later, someone grabbed him and started shooting. One bullet hit Igor Talkov in the chest.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Malakhov rushed to run. Already on the street, as described, Aziza caught up with him, grabbing a gun (according to another version, Aziza handed over the weapon through Ella Kasimati, artistic director of the Scarlet Flower charity concert organization). One way or another, the weapon was returned to its owner. He jumped into a taxi, and later dismantled and threw away the firearm: some into the Moika, some into the Fontanka.

Talkov died a few minutes later at Yubileiny. As it turned out later, he had a gunshot bullet penetrating wound of the chest with damage to the heart and lung, as well as huge blood loss.

By the time doctors arrived at the scene, he was already dead. However, the fans demanded to save the idol. Fearing reprisals, the doctors took him to the hospital, and from there the body was already transported to the morgue.

The investigation into the murder was taken under maximum control. The examination and establishment of the circumstances of the incident was carried out by the doctor of medical sciences of the Military Academy of St. Petersburg.

Malakhov?

The first person suspected of the murder was Aziza's bodyguard and friend, who pulled out a gun.

Four days after the tragedy, he was put on the All-Union wanted list. True, Malakhov himself, having learned about this, voluntarily appeared to law enforcement officers and began to testify. Two and a half months later, at the end of December, charges of premeditated murder were dropped against him. However, the investigation did not rule out that Malakhov could have shot Talkov by negligence.

Valery Shlyafman

In the spring of 1992, the results of a series of examinations were ready, which helped to determine how people were standing at the time of the incident. According to them, the shot was fired by the administrator of Igor Talkov, Valery Shlyafman. It was assumed that the murder was committed through negligence.

In May of the same year, an arrest warrant was issued, but the accused ... was not in Russia. He left for Israel.

Shlyafman himself continued to blame Malakhov for everything. So, in 2012, in an interview with Express Gazeta, he stated that "the culprit was found on the first day." According to him, on October 6, 1991, Talkov's guards hit Malakhov on the back of the head. The latter reflexively reached for the pistol and fired.

In 2013, the investigation was suspended, reported " Interfax"The fact is that Shlyafman remained in Israel. And Russia does not have an agreement with this country on the extradition of citizens.

At the same time, the official representative of the TFR of St. Petersburg, Sergei Kapitonov, then emphasized that the case had been solved.

Aziza

As the killer of Talkov, fans have repeatedly called Aziz. The motive for this was the fact that the gun returned to Malakhov not without her help. Aziza herself said that she was not threatened with reprisal, however, as he wrote " businessman", she spent more than one day without getting out in the St. Petersburg hotel" Pribaltiyskaya ".

In addition, in 2016, in the program "Live", Aziza stated that she was pregnant. Three days after the tragedy, the baby died in the womb.

I ran out of the dressing room into the corridor, saw a lot of people, Malakhov was bleeding from his head. I ran, tearing off my jacket, and covered Igor's Head. Valera kicked me in the stomach. All this in a gas cloud, it hurt my eyes. When I howled from pain, horror, I saw that Shlyafman was standing in front of me. He noticed this and ran to the dressing room, she recalled.

Accident

Vladimir Solovyov, a senior forensic investigator of the Main Directorate of Criminalistics of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, a former consultant in the case of the murder of Talkov, did not rule out that the singer was killed by a fatal accident.

While working on the case, I got the impression that there was an accidental murder. His producer accidentally fired and there can be nothing new there, it has already been heard many times. I oversaw this case when he was killed, I, as a forensic scientist, studied these materials, gave some advice, I was not an investigator, but I knew the materials, and I got the full impression that it was an accidental murder, - Vladimir Solovyov commented to Life .

He suggested that Shlyafman grabbed a revolver and wanted to discharge it somewhere into the ceiling.

He clicked once, two, three, there was no shot, and then he could accidentally hit Talkov, believing that he was empty, the drum was empty and there were no cartridges in the revolver, Solovyov noted.

political assassination

Former intelligence officer Mikhail Kryzhanovsky spoke about the political version of the publication "Gordon Boulevard".

In September 1991, after the failed anti-Gorbachev coup of the State Emergency Committee, Talkov wrote an appeal to Yeltsin on behalf of the people - the song "Mr. President," Kryzhanovsky recalled.

He described this song as a direct call for the overthrow of Gorbachev. Kryzhanovsky was sure: Igor Talkov wanted to perform it then in St. Petersburg. And in November, also to sing during a concert in the "Olympic". And publicly they allegedly decided to remove it, so that "others would be discouraged." By the way, the version about the political motive of the crime became one of the most common in the 90s.

The son of a murdered performer, , in a comment, Life said that he also considers the crime politically motivated.

It seems to me that we need to look deeper, more philosophically, why poets are killed, why my father was liquidated at that time. Everything was checked by the secret services. To destroy a person who had a social platform, who could educate people, - he said.

25 years ago, on October 6, 1991, in St. Petersburg, during a combined concert at the Yubileiny Sports Palace, Igor Talkov was killed. The director of the singer Valery Shlyafman was found guilty of the tragedy. But it was not possible to condemn him: the man left for Israel, where he still lives.

Despite the verdict of the investigation, many versions of what happened were discussed.

Recently, a retired lieutenant colonel Sergei Valeriev told reporters that the artist got the fatal bullet from the former director and lover of the singer Aziza, kickboxer Igor Malakhov. Like, the blame was put on Shlyafman, since Malakhov had serious connections - both in criminal circles and in law enforcement agencies.

On the eve of the next anniversary of the death of the singer, Komsomolskaya Pravda spoke with Oleg Blinov, who in those years headed the investigative part of the prosecutor's office of St. Petersburg and investigated the murder of Igor Talkov.

I worked on this case together with the investigator Valery Borisovich Zubarev, - says Oleg Blinov. - And he established that the fatal shot was made by Shlyafman. Whoever claims anything, I know: this is not a crime, but an accident, ordinary male stupidity. When, during a scuffle, Malakhov's revolver ended up in Shlyafman's hands, he began to pull the trigger with trembling hands, without checking whether there were cartridges or not. And clicked ... (see "What happened behind the scenes.")

- But what about the version of a certain Valeriev that the investigation covered Malakhov?

I remember all the operatives who participated in the interrogations of Mr. Malakhov. There was no Valeriev among them.

First the bullet pierced the palm, then the heart

- Why, in your opinion, Igor Malakhov could not shoot Talkov? The singer was killed from his weapon ...

Malakhov could not shoot, because at that moment he was blocked by Talkov's guards. In this position (being actually opposite Talkov) only Shlyafman could shoot! This has been proven by expertise. Talkov saw a weapon aimed at him, tried to take him away, but the bullet first pierced his palm, and then his heart ...

I was interested in the postures and disposition of the people during the skirmish. And I additionally turned to the military medical academy, where they conducted a serious study. Experienced experts put everything on the shelves. The picture of the murder was recreated with drawings, photographs - in those days we did not have computers. If there was the slightest lie, it would immediately jump out. All this is reflected in the case file.

- Shlyafman immediately hit the run?

He did not hit the run, he left the problems because he did not want to be extreme. Shlyafman left for Uzhgorod, as I remember, and from there he slowly left for Israel. I followed him, I found him. He ran to his curator at the Russian consulate in Israel: “Give me a car, I will catch it and bring it!” I was told: “We are sitting here, establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, and you will take it and ruin everything with your actions?” I was not even allowed to interrogate Shlyafman. Those times were...

We did not think that Shlyafman would leave. It was a matter of trust. When Talkov died, the singer's friends and relatives asked us to let them go to the funeral (to Moscow. - Ed.). Like, don't worry, we'll be back. But then they refused, they did not come to St. Petersburg. If Igor Talkov had not been such a well-known figure, I would have simply put all the participants in the conflict in a cell and received detailed confessions.

Malakhov had to work during the murder

Nevertheless, I got Malakhov to be punished for illegal possession and carrying of weapons, continues Blinov. “Although it was not easy to do so. Firstly, the main evidence - the weapon from which Talkov was killed - is not. We found out that from the hands of Shlyafman the revolver got to Aziz, and she handed the weapon over to Malakhov. He dismantled it and threw it away (he had previously hidden the gun in the cistern of the toilet in Yubileiny. - Ed.). Malakhov is not a local, and in the course of an investigative experiment, he could not remember which channel of St. Petersburg he threw the weapon into.

An interesting detail - I have not told anyone about this yet. There is a Sevastopol court in Moscow. The criminal case against Malakhov was kept there. As it turned out, he was convicted of a serious crime (robbery and robbery), but for some reason did not begin to serve his sentence (see extract from the document). I was told this in court. Malakhov apparently had a serious patron.

It turns out that during the skirmish with Talkov, Malakhov had to serve his sentence. This was not reflected in the Talkov case, since it did not concern his death. But life itself put everything in its place. 25 years ago, Malakhov was a man with the body of Rambo: physically developed, rich, handsome. It turns out that he was unable to resolve the conflict without shooting, like a man, he was punished by fate ... (Recently, Igor Malakhov died of cirrhosis of the liver - he was 53 years old. - Ed.).

Aziza cried on Petrovka

Aziza has been suffering for many years from accusations from Talkov's fans, saying that because of a woman's whim, a man went to the next world.

When we summoned Malakhov for interrogation to the Main Department of Internal Affairs, Aziza came with him. People in this profession are known to love attention. While we were interrogating Malakhov for hours, Aziza was sitting in one of the offices of the Main Directorate. When I entered the office, Aziza was drinking tea alone and crying...

SPECIFICALLY

What happened behind the scenes

The conflict flared up because of the order in which the artists appeared on the stage, - explains Oleg Blinov. - Aziza did not have time to put on make-up and wanted to postpone her performance to a later time (performing closer to the end of the concert is more prestigious for the performer. According to the regulations, Aziza was supposed to go on stage first, then Talkov, and Oleg Gazmanov ended the concert. - Ed.). The director of the artist, Igor Malakhov, approached the director of Igor Talkov, Valery Shlyafman, to agree in a rather ultimatum form that his ward performed before the singer. Shlyafman replied: "I'll go and ask Talkov." Having come to the singer, Shlyafman began to be indignant, they say, why is our performance being postponed at the behest of some Malakhov, who fancies himself an authority, a businessman of the shadow economy and threatens? Then Talkov, who initially did not care when to speak, asked Malakhov to be brought to his dressing room. Shlyafman brought Malakhov.

At the dressing room, Director Aziza was met by Talkov's bodyguards. A verbal altercation began. One of Talkov's bodyguards suggested that Malakhov step aside and talk "like a kid." They moved five meters away from the dressing room. The conflict had already begun to subside, but the director of Talkov, Shlyafman, in an insulting manner, began to tease Malakhov: “Igor, are you scared?”

Malakhov got angry, stepped back a few steps and took out a revolver revolver of the 1895 model. (Later he will tell the investigation that he bought a revolver and cartridges for self-defense. - Ed.) He directed him towards Talkov's bodyguard. Then Shlyafman shouting "He has a gun!" rushed to Talkov's dressing room.

The singer ran out of the dressing room with his gas pistol. Talkov fired several shots from it - the corridor was filled with gas. One of the bodyguards threw Malakhov face down on the floor. During the struggle, the revolver fired twice: one bullet was later found in the corridor, the other hit the box from under the equipment.

Malakhov first stood on all fours, then he was pressed to the floor. The body guard placed a knee on his back so that he couldn't move. Talkov, who ran up, hit Malakhov on the head with a gas pistol several times. Then one of the bodyguards began to shout to Malakhov: “Where is the barrel?” Shlyafman approached Malakhov and took the revolver. He repeatedly pulled the trigger, aimed at Malakhov and shouted "Lie down!" (Shlyafman's behavior looks illogical. The enemy was disarmed, why was it necessary to pull the trigger? Most likely, Shlyafman was so agitated by the skirmish that he did not give an account of his actions. - Ed.) After two clicks, a shot rang out. A second before that, Malakhov, seeing a revolver pointed at him, abruptly recoiled. And the only bullet remaining in the revolver hit Talkov.

From the testimony of witnesses: “The mortally wounded Talkov screamed, got up from the floor to his feet, the gas pistol fell out of his hands, and he “half-bent” began to move away from the center of the corridor, holding his stomach with both hands ...” The bullet damaged the heart and left lung. By the time the ambulance arrived, the artist was already dead.

5 hits of the singer

"Clean Ponds"

"I'll come back"

"Summer rain"

"Former Podsaul"

"Russia" ("Leading through an old notebook")

Igor Talkov I'll be back... 720p HD.

Now it’s clear for sure: the fatal shot was made by Igor Malakhov!

Now it’s clear for sure: the fatal shot was made by Igor Malakhov!

In a month, all TV channels of the country will commemorate Igor TALKOV. On October 6, 1991 (25 years ago), the singer was shot dead in Leningrad. The charge was brought against its director, Valery SHLYAFMAN, after which he fled to Israel. On the Promised Land, he changed his surname, becoming VYSOTSKY, and is trying in vain to prove his innocence. There was another suspect in the case - the lover of the singer Aziza, kickboxer Igor MALAKHOV. The court found him guilty under the article "Illegal possession of weapons" and gave him only three years probation. Recently, at the age of 53, Malakhov died without giving a single interview in his entire life.

Three years ago I tried to talk to Igor Malakhov(which, following Shlyafman changed his surname Rusom). Then he ended up in a Moscow clinic with cirrhosis of the liver. Igor flatly refused to speak. Neither his mother Galina Stepanovna nor his wife, an actress, wanted to communicate with the press. Ksenia Kuznetsova who bore him two sons.

I found their family in a remote village near Moscow, where they lived in a huge log mansion. As soon as she saw the correspondent's ID, the crazy mother set two equally crazy dogs on me.

And this summer, fate brought me to a former employee of the MUR, a retired lieutenant colonel Sergey Valeriev. From several conversations with a policeman, this interview came out, which sheds light on many blank spots in the mysterious story.

17 knife

Igor Malakhov was a real authority in the 90s, my new acquaintance reminded me. - He was in the Mazutka group, led by Petrik - Petrov Alexey Dinarovich. The brigade lived in the area of ​​the Cosmos Hotel and Maryina Roshcha. And then the KGB officers turned to us. One of the dancers of the variety show at the Ukraine Hotel was married to a Frenchman. Chekists kept all such marriages under control. But it turned out that the lady was cheating on a foreigner with Malakhov. Guys from the KGB came to me to inquire about him.

- And what, Igor was just a real gangster?

Something like that. Then martial arts were fashionable. Malakhov was fond of them and even became the kickboxing champion of Siberia. Nature endowed him with hearing and artistry. Igor graduated from a music school, studied at the theater course with Olga Kabo. Was friends with Zhenya Belousov, made acquaintance with Aizenshpis. When Belousov fell ill, Igor often visited him. I remember saying: "Not a single bitch came when he was dying." He knew the entire beau monde. In addition, he is blond, taller than 180. In general, a movie character of the Scandinavian type. Girls hung up on him.

We got to know each other closely in 1990, a year before the murder. Talkova. There was information that the Dagestanis cut Malakhov in the hotel "Ukraine". They inflicted 17 knives, and he ended up in the hospital. The conflict was over a prostitute Marina Krylova, who worked in Cosmos, for which he and his brother Oleg, nicknamed Alena, stood up. Krylova is a pretty girl, a little over 20 years old. She came to our department in a mink coat, behaved modestly. We drooled looking at her.

Our task was to get information about the Dagestan group. Igor honestly told that his brother Oleg beat their leader Kolya-Krysha for running over a girl. The Dagestanis wanted to take revenge, but they attacked Igor - they confused him. There was no living place on it. We came to the hospital to take testimony, and he explained: “I’ll figure it out myself, we have a clue.” After a couple of months, the wounds healed. And we sent some of those Caucasians to prison, although Malakhov did not help the investigation.

- After that incident, did you meet with Malakhov?

Having recovered, he somehow drove up in a car, and sat next to Aziza. He called her "Chukchi".

- Interesting relationship. By the way, remind readers: what is the difference between a thief in law and authority.

Thief in law - honors the thieves' code. The basic principles are to steal, not to have a family and children, to earn money for food in a criminal way. Thieves in law did not engage in extortion, did not kill with weapons, acting, if necessary, by sharpening. In the 90s they were replaced by people like Malakhov - authorities. Athletes with no criminal record. There are no limits to authority. This is a gangster who does not answer to the thieves' community. Authorities were afraid to get into the zone, because thieves' laws were in effect there.

Without malicious intent

- How did you find out about Talkov's death?

- From TV, like everyone else. The murder took place a couple of weeks after the coup. Euphoria, concerts. Crowds of idiots in the streets yelled: "Yeltsin, Yeltsin!" By the way, then rumor connected the murder of Talkov with both Boris Nikolayevich and the Jewish conspiracy. The next day I go to work, Malakhov calls: "Sergey, I'm not in business, I'm not a killer." I said, "Don't fuss. You are wanted. I can help, but within the law. My task was to establish psychological contact. “Come to Petrovka, 38, I must see you,” I finished the conversation. Igor was catastrophically afraid that he would be imprisoned. We set up equipment, tried to take control, but then the KGB intervened, headed by Litvinenko. They wanted to take the laurels of the winners. They listened to the telephone recording, rushed off, confused Igor with his brother Oleg and knocked him on the head. Igor calls me again: “I will sink to the bottom. What are you doing?!" By the way, Malakhov later became friends with this Litvinenko from the KGB.

- Wait. Litvinenko? The one?!

- Well, yes, he then served Boris Abramovich Berezovsky. The British poisoned him with polonium and blamed the murder on the FSB.

A team of Leningrad investigators is coming to us. With one of them I bet a glass of vodka that Igor would voluntarily come to Petrovka. And won. All my conversations with Malakhov, of course, were tapped. He was in a difficult mental state. Valery Zubarev, the investigator who was assigned the case turned out to be a normal person. I say: "Our task is to remove the resonance, to solve the crime." And such a cry went up! It's big politics, they say. The deputy head of the search began to run into: "Let's throw it into the cell, we will split it." But still decided to release on subscription. Zubarev interrogated everyone, and issued a verdict: "According to the testimony, Shlyafman is guilty."

In the "Yubileiny" there was a "Soundtrack", and in parallel, in another place, kickboxing competitions were held, in the leadership of the association which included Igor. Between the fights, the stars performed. Among them is Aziza. And then they called her. They said that one of the artists did not come to the performance of the "Soundtrack" and it was necessary to replace him. Aziza decided to quickly hit the road there, although Malakhov tried to dissuade her: she risked not returning by the right time. Then Aziza offered to talk to Talkov. To switch orders with him.

We arrived at the Jubilee. Malakhov went to the director Talkov Shlyafman. Word for word, a fight... Talkov called the guards from among the former Tula paratroopers. A brawl began, and Malakhov had a revolver. The singer's security knocked him down, began to twist his arms. Talkov ran up, started kicking with his feet. Malakhov fired three or four shots. And one of the bullets hit Talkov. There was no intentional murder. Then this pistol was thrust into the hands of Shlyafman. Although Malakhov was severely beaten, he left unhindered through the hall. Shlyafman brought the barrel to Azize. She gave it to Igor, who threw it into the Fontanka.

Dirty demotivators are still circulating on the Web accusing SHLYAFMAN (pictured on the right) of the musician's death. And it turns out he's not to blame. Photo: fotki.yandex.ru

Faithful Leninist

- Did you go to court?

I wasn't called. Igor was given conditionally. When the court made a decision, he immediately called me and asked me to drive up to the Ukraina. And during the meeting he said quietly: “I want to tell you, this is my shot. I take your word that you won't say anything." I have been silent for 25 years. I am an Orthodox person and I no longer want to bear this sin. Now I talk about it calmly. Because Malakhov is no longer alive. I am in favor of removing the charge from the poor Jew Shlyafman.

I met him several years ago. Can you imagine what it is like to live all your life with the stigma of "killer Talkov"?

I am ready to give confessions if it helps to somehow remove the blame from Shlyafman. But believe me, Igor paid for what he did. For the last 15 years, his friends called him Ilyich. After all, he began to thump heavily and hung a portrait at home Lenin. He told everyone: "Here is the most honest person." Something with the head, in short, happened. It's like they changed it.

Oddities have been observed for Igor before. In the early 90s, when he broke up with Aziza, he became a novice of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. But the Lord turned him around in such a way that Igor began to speak out against faith. He went into paganism, hit the Vedas, mysticism. Many believing guys who recently came to his wake stopped communicating with Igor because of this.

Before his death, Malakhov became extraordinarily fat: the Lord took money and beauty from him. I went to him out of town. Conversations with him weighed down. I realized that Igor is being eaten by the evil one. Paganism, after all, provides for witchcraft and divination.

But the death of his brother influenced his psyche even more strongly: Oleg was shot in the back of the head when he, having opened the door for someone, turned his back on the guest. My brother sat on coke, was connected with drug dealers.

- Was Aziza at Malakhov's funeral?

She arrived when the urn was taken from the crematorium. She sang a soulful song right there. Mom decided to bury Igor in his native city - in Kurgan. It is a pity that even a candle cannot be lit for him in the church.