At 62, it's time to take stock. Singer, composer and rock musician Igor Talkov would have turned this age this year. In a mansion in the deep forests of the Moscow region, the main person involved in the case (now deceased) Igor Malakhov hid for more than 20 years; the fatal bullet was fired from the revolver of the singer Aziza’s bodyguard. It may be a coincidence, but immediately after it was announced, all of Malakhov’s close relatives disappeared from Malakhov’s mansion.
Irina Krasilnikova, a close friend of Igor Talkov’s family: “According to the materials of the criminal case, Malakhov could not have caused a fatal injury to Talkov, as evidenced by the totality of the following data: the nature of Malakhov’s movement at the scene of the incident, the position of Malakhov’s hand with the weapon.”
These materials from the criminal case have never been released to the press. A close friend of the Talkov family has been conducting her own investigation all this time. And here it is worth paying attention to several things. First, the murder weapon was never found. Many conclusions were made on the basis of ballistic and situational expertise. Secondly, the investigation never questioned key witnesses.
So what was it? Was it an accidental murder in a fight or was the fight a carefully planned prologue to the murder?
This happened on the day of a concert with the participation of the brightest stars of that time. The headliner, as they would say now, is the performer of the hit “Russia” Igor Talkov. But shortly before going on stage, Aziza’s representative Malakhov demands from the director of the idol of the 80s, Valery Shlyafman, to give the lady a place, that is, to act as her opening act. In just a few minutes the singer will be killed. Valery Shlyafman is the same person who did not yield to Malakhov then and who is now considered the main suspect in the murder. Now, under the name Vysotsky, he works as a simple manager in a Tel Aviv travel agency.
Malakhov bursts into Talkov’s dressing room and in a raised voice demands that the singer give up his turn to Aziza. But when the security escorted Aziza’s bodyguard out, Shlyafman began to behave strangely: having caught up with Malakhov, he began to provoke him. Malakhov takes out his revolver, Shlyamfan again flies into the dressing room shouting “Igor, he has a gun!” To which Talkov, with the words “We have our own for his gun,” takes out the barrel and also runs out into the corridor. Talkov opens fire first, but he has a gas pistol - a popular at that time, but rather harmless means of self-defense. But the enemy has already been neutralized; Talkov’s bodyguards restrained him. If the singer had returned to the dressing room, everything would have ended differently. But Talkov begins to beat Malakhov and then two shots are heard. At that moment, none of them had become fatal. The mise-en-scene at the time of the third fatal shot looks like this: Talkov is on his knees on the left, Shlyafman is half-sitting on the right at an outstretched distance, between them is a crowd of guards and Malakhov lying on the floor. According to the case materials, the revolver is in Shlyafman’s hands at this moment. But that's not all. After being wounded in the chest, Talkov was still alive for some time, and two people in white coats rush to his aid, introducing themselves as students of a medical university. And either out of ignorance, or due to some secret intent, they give him a heart massage, which is why the bullet went even deeper. They say that if they had waited for the ambulance to arrive, the artist could have been saved. It turns out that Talkov had at least three chances to survive that day.
Main reasons for murder
It was 1991. Everything went according to plan. People received a new portion of noodles on their ears along with perestroika. Party officials - new positions and prospects for appointments. Former republics Soviet Union- possibility of immediate independence. And only one person was worried about what kind of state Russia would become in the near future. At his concerts, he already organized the long-awaited trial of the communists. But the plans of the communists themselves did not include their trial. It was easy to sign your own death warrant in those years. It was necessary to disrupt and destroy the plans of those who were quietly planning to pocket all the wealth of the former USSR. Talkov was precise in his poems like no one else.
"Who stood at the throne yesterday,
That one is still there.
The bastards changed lanes in the blink of an eye,
And while they are at the throne, all of us are worthless."
Do you agree, a lot? But that is not all. There was also the song "Mr. President". “We are tired of lies, there are heaps of crows in the sky. Enough!” They didn’t need anyone who understood the situation. They needed what any government needs - an obedient electorate, which subsequently squanders “choose with your heart” and the rest. It was also necessary to gently collapse the country, disconnect the republics, take away nuclear weapons, then show people what instability and chaos are, and then normalize the situation with the arrival of a strong leader. Did Talkov really interfere with this? Many people will laugh now and say, what is it - a musician, songs, nonsense. But there was no PR then. And such songs had an extremely strong effect on people at that time. Many people's consciousness turned over, people began to see clearly. One of those who have seen the light is myself. Talkov's songs and his activities pushed me to study history, write poetry and music, and radically changed my
life. Imagine if he continued singing? Such influence on the masses had to be stopped urgently.
Before eliminating a person, they conduct conversations with him, counting on the fact that the person will understand and abandon his idea. They talked to Igor, then threatened him. In the end, they couldn’t persuade him and decided to eliminate him. The execution was entrusted to professionals. And they organized it on top level. Later, one admits that he received the order. And you ask me why in fact it is still classified as “Secret” in 2015? What do you think? "Who stood at the throne yesterday..."
Murder technology
So, professionals worked. About how this case would subsequently turn out, who needed to be blamed and how to play the murder card a little later, those who were “rebuilding” and whom Talkov terribly disturbed with his songs apparently knew. It was necessary to kill him for a reason. It couldn't have been a domestic incident, an accident, or a ridiculous incident. As in the case of Nemtsov, some rules had to be followed:
1. Public death, kill as a warning to others
2. The overthrow of idols, an insignificant reason for death
3. Unsolved crime
4. Red Herring
Talkov was a musician and perfect option there was a concert for him. But how? Get shot during a performance? No, it's too simple. Ambush after the concert? Trite. We decided to use provocation before the concert. The ideal way is the order of the artists; in those years this meant status. Malakhov and two of Talkov’s bodyguards worked together. Subsequently, both of them will say goodbye to life, and Malakhov to his brother. In those years, it was apparently easy to catch former athletes committing crimes.
bodyguards Barkovsky and Bondarenko were sinners. Therefore, their role was reduced to a brawl, they were asked to play along and that’s it. Malakhov's role is that of a provocateur. The ideal person who could be provoked was Shlyafman. Valery Shlyafman came to Talkov quite by accident, having previously worked with Senchina. But someone told him that Talkov could make good money at concerts. The unbalanced Shlyafman is an ideal option for provocations. He was turned on half-heartedly, Malakhov said rude things to him and challenged him to a conflict. The brawl that took place in the hall was necessary for the one who shot Talkov.
And here is the most important point! In what ways is this murder similar to the murder of Nemtsov, whose technology I wrote about? By what was created DISTRACTION MANEUVER during which the murder took place. Remember one of the basic principles of a thief? Distract a person with one maneuver in order to carry out another and take what is needed. This is exactly what happened with Nemtsov. A diversionary maneuver (he felt bad), a girl who went away for help, a killer pretending to help him come to his senses, and that’s all. Nobody knows who killed Nemtsov, it seems
no one remembers the shots, and no one saw anything, because they COULD NOT SEE! In the case of Talkov, the distracting maneuver was a scuffle with shooting.
________________________________________ ________________________________________ _____
Here is how it was. Provocation, conflict, fight between Malakhov and bodyguards. He managed to shoot a couple of times, no matter when or how. Then Shlyafman intercepted the pistol. When he pulled the trigger the cartridges were no longer there. Talkov had by that time fired his gas cartridges, which turned out to be expired. There was smoke in the room, allegedly from Talkov firing from a gas pistol. But most likely she was abandoned by the killer smoke bomb for cover. Or a concert smoke machine was used. It was necessary to create a smoke screen. When the conflict with Malakhov was settled and everyone dispersed, Talkov walked towards the stage, moving away from the scene of events. Where the killer shot was fired. There was a dull sound, many heard it. The shot was from the knee, from bottom to top, into the heart area from close range. The thirst for life turned out to be stronger than the killer’s bullet and Talkov went to the stage, but when he reached the mirror he collapsed. He probably wanted to say from the stage that he was shot and who shot him. The killers had a backup option ready. They knew that the shot would be in the heart area. People in white coats instantly appeared, ostensibly to provide medical assistance. Direct cardiac massage was the “control” for such a wound. After that, the guys disappeared and did not appear again. By the way, they could have given some kind of injection. On the same day there was an attempt to disrupt the ambulance with calls. They called several times, calling an ambulance to a false address. Records of this remained in the journals of those years. As a result, the ambulance arrived in half an hour. Talkov was already dead.
Next, the press immediately worked. This once again suggests that the murder was supervised from above. The press was stuffed and leaked with “necessary” information. Articles immediately appeared that Talkov allegedly got into a drunken showdown behind the stage and was killed because of a banal line of artists. That is, essentially a petty person who died because of his status and thirst for fame. Has the 4-point task been completed? Yes! The death is public, the idol is defeated, there was a distraction, the crime will never be solved.
Who used Talkov's murder
Those who controlled the murder knew that many years later they would be able to play this card to fulfill a long-held dream. Yes, we're talking about about the restoration of the empire. Therefore, they took one step - they asked Valery Shlyafman to leave for his homeland, supposedly for safety reasons. To remember about him in 20 years. Not understanding anything and taken aback by all this, Shlyafman decided to leave. He was a passionate person, but nothing more. Which of you has never flared up during a fight and has been cold-blooded - be the first to throw a stone at me. You probably saw that shameful program on Russian TV, in which a certain “friend” of Talkov, as well as musicians Tolmatsky and Saltykov, convinced Valery Shlyafman on a direct line to confess to the crime. They even promised him forgiveness. Funny, right? They say, we are so good-natured, we don’t remember evil, but you admit it... And then the great empire will forgive him and his small country. Well played, right? But we knew that this would happen in advance, I’m sure!
By then, the main witnesses had been killed or intimidated. They killed Malakhov's brother as a threat. Talkov's bodyguards were killed: Barkovsky, Bondarenko. It was certainly not the authorities’ plans to investigate all this, and the investigator brought the case to the right level. It is very easy to accuse a person of another nation, who also already lives abroad. Well, and at the same time show the greatness of the imperial scale.
Answers on questions
1. Did Shlyafman shoot? No. When Shlyafman took the pistol, the drum had already been turned several times and there were no cartridges in it.
2. Did Malakhov shoot? No, it was not Malakhov who shot Talkov. His shots missed, the bullets were later found.
3. Was Aziza involved? Her role has not been established. But it was she who asked Malakhov to go and figure it out, everyone heard this when they were sitting in the Yubileiny cafe. Nothing would have happened if this person had not asked her to change places with Talkov. According to A. Razin, singer Aziza said the following: “Talc is not a star for me, go and change places with us.” Can this be considered complicity? After all, Malakhov himself could have convinced her of this. Let's leave this question aside.
4. Who shot Talkov? The killer fired from a PM pistol with a silencer. There was a dull sound, everyone heard a dull sound after the fight! If Malakhov's revolver had fired, we would have heard a loud sound.
5. What other insurances were there besides the killer? There was surveillance, this can be seen in the video below, as people from surveillance are running (9:48). That is, Talkov was monitored very closely.
6. Who was responsible for the death? There was a safety net in the form of cardiac massage by unknown people in white coats. By the way, they might not have been privy to the details of the operation. They could simply be asked to give a massage to the wounded (or an injection). There is also a version that another killer was waiting in the hall during Talkov’s performance, in case the provocation in the dressing room had failed.
7. Where did Shlyafman's shirt come from as the main piece of evidence? Shlyafman’s shirt with traces of gunpowder could have been planted on the investigator. But the shirt itself does not give anything. During the shooting, Shlyafman was near Malakhov and the marks could have gotten on his shirt.
8. K What role did Talkov’s bodyguards perform? Two of them were killed under strange circumstances, most likely they knew something. A. Barkovsky - killed in a restaurant with fittings, before his death he recalled the episode of the murder on the operating table. Bodyguard Ignatenko - survived several assassination attempts (including being stabbed in the stomach), fears for his family, is now in hiding. Attempts on a mere mortal? Doesn't this seem strange to you? Bodyguard Arkady Bondarenko - suicide, cut off his finger before his death and jumped out of the window. Maybe that finger that pressed
trigger?
9. Was Malakhov himself a complete piece of shit, as some people imagine him to be? No. He was just a regular guy with a bit of power, playing with ambition. People were not very corrupt at that time. After these events, Malakhov talked a lot with the artists, asked for an apology, and said that he was not the one who shot. If a person is absolute shit, then he wouldn’t do it.
10. Was Talkov drunk? No, there was no alcohol in Talkov’s blood.
11. Where is Malakhov now? Very ill now, lived in South Africa. A few years after Talkov’s murder, Malakhov’s brother was killed. Apparently with the aim of forcing him to remain silent.
12. Why was there no security at the concert? About 15 minutes before the murder, the riot police disappeared. Who do you think could have made such an important decision and on whose orders did the riot police leave?
13. Was Talkov's hand shot? They say that when Shlyafman fired, Talkov allegedly defended himself with his hand. No, according to the testimony of Berkova and Muromov, who examined Igor after his death, his arm was not shot.
14. Was Talkov a nationalist? No, there was work to denigrate him by apparently the same forces who later eliminated him. He was invited to the Memory Society and filmed, and the events are now presented as his entry into the nationalist Memory Society.
15. What was the shot fired from? From PM with a muffler. The bullet in Talkov was fired from a PM pistol, according to the investigator’s examination. Malakhov had a revolver that contained other cartridges. Do you have any more questions about Malakhov or Shlyafman?
16.Why did the ambulance arrive so late? From a conversation with the ambulance driver who worked on this call. He said: “They held us for forty minutes. There were calls from Yubileiny, but they wouldn’t let us leave.”
You will see everything else in the video below. First, an interview where Igor himself talks about “perestroika”, and about the “Memory” society, and about friendship between nations, and about the fact that he is on the side of the people. At first he is alive and after a few hours he is already dead. It also shows the first footage after the murder. If you are impressionable, please do not watch!
A new version of the murder of a national idol
The version was aired during the recent release of Dmitry Shepelev’s television program “Actually” on Channel One, during which former Moscow law enforcement officer Sergei Lomov said that he knows who actually killed Igor Talkov in 1991. Lomov allegedly decided to reveal the mystery of the murder of the legendary singer only after one of the witnesses to the artist’s death, a direct participant in the tragic events and “close friend” of Lomov, Igor Malakhov, died.
According to Lomov, who had nothing to do with the investigation of this high-profile case, Malakhov loved to “show off” and once during a private conversation admitted that when the men were fighting, snatching each other’s guns, not two were heard, as was believed, but three shot. “Shlyafman did not kill,” he added.
In addition, Malakhov allegedly personally confessed to the murder of Talkov famous singer Mikhail Muromov. “He fired towards Talkov’s shots. He fired three times from a gas gun, Malakhov fired towards him. While talking to me, he understood that he had killed Talkov,” Muromov recalled. Lomov believes that it was Igor Malakhov who killed Talkov.
Thus, it was said during the program that Valery Shlyafman, Talkov’s concert director, who was accused of murdering the artist, turned out to be not guilty. “Journalist Natasha Murga contacted me. She told me about the fate of Shlyafman. He was one of the first to come to testify. I came here and said about three shots to make Shlyafman’s fate easier,” Lomov said.
However, during the same program, the opinions of its participants were heard, convincingly refuting this new version. In particular, they recalled the fact that, according to the examination, Talkov was killed by a shot from above, while Malakhov was knocked down by Talkov’s guards, and he was lying on the floor. It is also unclear why law enforcement officer Lomov remained silent for almost 30 years and spoke about Malakhov’s alleged confession only after he died. The former detective’s “friendship,” which he himself admitted, with Malakhov, who was involved in robberies and illegal trade, also raises questions.
It was suggested that this was an attempt to justify Shlyafman, who is still hiding in Israel, and to shift the blame for the murder of the legendary singer onto the now deceased Malakhov.
How it was
Igor Talkov was killed on October 6, 1991 in St. Petersburg. The artist was only 34 years old. Many performers performed at the concert, held at the Yubileiny Sports Palace. A friend of the singer Aziza, at her request, asked Igor Talkov to perform first, since Aziza did not have time to prepare for the performance. Igor called the singer’s security guard, Igor Malakhov, into his dressing room, and a verbal altercation took place between them. After this, two of Talkov’s guards took Malakhov out of the dressing room. Igor began to prepare for the performance, but a few minutes later the administrator of his group, Valery Shlyafman, came running to him, shouting that Malakhov had taken out a revolver. Talkov pulled out a gas signal pistol from his bag, which he had acquired for self-defense, ran out into the corridor and, seeing that his guards were under the gun of Igor Malakhov, fired three shots at him, and the guards pounced on Malakhov. Then he fired two shots, but the bullets hit the floor. The guards began beating the shooter. A few moments later, another shot was heard: a bullet hit Igor Talkov’s heart. When the ambulance arrived, they pronounced the singer dead.
The city prosecutor's office opened a criminal case. Igor Malakhov, who was put on the all-Union wanted list, voluntarily confessed. In December 1991, the charge of premeditated murder against him was dropped.
After conducting examinations in April 1992, the investigation established that Shlyafman fired the last shot. However, in February 1992, the accused fled to Israel, with which Russia did not have an extradition treaty at that time, and the murder case was suspended, but has not yet been closed.
Birth of a Bard
Igor Talkov's grandfather was a hereditary Cossack and military engineer, his uncles were officers in the tsarist army. The parents were repressed and met in prison in Kemerovo region. After rehabilitation, my father went for further residence to the city of Shchekino, Tula region. Igor Talkov was born in a barracks in the village of Gretsovka, not far from Shchekin. He studied in high school, while studying music. He loved music from the very beginning early childhood. First real musical instrument Igor Talkov's accordion was the "Kirov" button accordion bought by his parents. He was a member of the school ensemble “Guitar Players” and led the choir. Igor did not learn musical notation, which he regretted, but he quickly perceived melodies by ear and after a few minutes could reproduce them.
Igor Talkov began writing songs in 1973. At the age of sixteen, he and his friends created the vocal and instrumental ensemble “Byloe i Dumy.” In addition to music, Talkov was attracted to the theater. After graduating from school, he went to Moscow to enter drama school, but failed the literature exam because he had not read Gorky’s novel “Mother.” As a result, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Technology of the Tula Pedagogical Institute, from where he left, studied at the Institute of Culture in Leningrad, but did not graduate either, realizing that his calling lay elsewhere.
After serving in the engineering troops in Nakhabino near Moscow, Igor returned to his native Shchekino and decided to devote his life to the muses - he began performing as a professional musician in various ensembles in Sochi, and then in Moscow. Fate brought him together with Alla Pugacheva, Lyudmila Senchina, David Tukhmanov and other famous people.
In 1987, David Tukhmanov’s song “Chistye Prudy” performed by Igor Talkov was included in the “Song of the Year” program, after which Igor gained wide fame. He creates his own group, “Lifebuoy”.
Prophetic lines
It was a time of rapid change, a great state was collapsing, and a new one was born on its ruins. The singer was seized by a passion for studying the history of Russia using materials that he himself searched for in archives and libraries. The musician constantly accumulated information, which he later used to write his famous patriotic songs. So, after one sleepless night, Igor literally wrote his famous song “Russia” in one sitting, without ever correcting a single line. The words of this song are still relevant today:
And the golden domes
Someone was blinded with a black eye:
You irritated the forces of evil
And it’s obvious that she got them so much,
That they decided to blind you.
Russia…
In December 1989, the host of the television program “Before and After Midnight” Vladimir Molchanov included a video for the song “Russia”, filmed by the film crew of the television program, in his program. It thundered throughout the country. From that moment his all-Russian fame began as a folk bard, a real idol of the country that was seething in those years. But Russia’s enemies were blinded not only by its golden domes, but also by Talkov’s prophetic songs. And therefore, every time, going on stage, Igor put on a clean white shirt, baptized himself, the stage and walked, as if for the last time, as if to the scaffold...
After watching the video for the song “Russia,” film director Alexei Saltykov invited him to play the main role in the film “Prince Silver” (renamed “Tsar Ivan the Terrible”). However, after the change of director, the script was changed and began to only vaguely resemble the novel by Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy, acquiring a partly parodic character. Igor did not finish his role, refused to voice it, and at the presentation of the film in August 1991, he asked forgiveness from Alexei Tolstoy and the audience for taking part in it.
One day Igor was flying to a concert in Tyumen with his group. When the plane hit a thundercloud, the passengers panicked. Then Talkov calmly told them: “Don’t be afraid. As long as you are with me, you will not die. They will kill me in front of a large crowd of people, and the killer will not be found.”
After this incident, he wrote the song “I’ll be back,” which is considered his spiritual testament:
I don't dare to prophesy
But I know for sure that I will return.
Even after a hundred centuries,
To a country not of fools, but of geniuses.
And, defeated in battle,
I will rise again and sing
On the country's first birthday,
returning from the war...
On August 22, 1991, during the days of the August putsch, Igor Talkov performed with his group on Palace Square in Leningrad. At this time, he conveyed to Boris Yeltsin through his personal doctor recording of the song "Mr. President". This song expresses disappointment with the policies of the first president of Russia, on whom Igor initially had high hopes.
Olga Dubovitskaya, on the air of the program “Evening with Dmitry Dibrov,” spoke about her conversation with Igor Talkov: “He believed that Gorbachev had an assignment from the same elite that he serves to destroy the Union, which Gorbachev successfully carried out. And he was raised up the hierarchical ladder of the power that is above power. In recent days, he was disappointed in Yeltsin, he did not claim or say that Yeltsin’s task was to destroy Russia, but he assumed that this was exactly the case.”
On the eve of his death, on October 5, Igor was performing at a technical school in Gzhel, where a string on his guitar suddenly broke. This was Igor Talkov's last appearance on stage. And on October 3 or 4, as Tatyana Talkova recalled, Igor received a phone call, and in response to the unknown singer, he said: “Are you threatening me? Fine. Are you declaring war? I accept it. Let's see who comes out the winner." And on October 6, Igor Talkov was killed. But his songs are still sung...
Especially for "Century"
What happened
Writer Fyodor Razzakov in his book “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 singer Aziza (Mukhamedova) and Igor Talkov were supposed to take part. The conflict allegedly arose over who would go on stage first. So, Aziza’s friend Igor Malakhov allegedly demanded that she be there later. Talkov administrator Valery Shlyafman was categorically against it.
At about 16:00 Malakhov approached Talkov’s dressing room and announced his desire. They began to argue with Shlyafman, and a skirmish ensued. Talkov’s administrator shouted the conventional: “They’re beating our people,” 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 the spot tied his hands.
The pistol, which had two more cartridges, 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 started to run. Already on the street, as described, Aziza caught up with him and grabbed a pistol (according to another version, Aziza handed over the weapon through the artistic director of the Scarlet Flower charity concert organization Ella Kasimati). One way or another, the weapon was returned to the owner. He jumped into a taxi, and later disassembled and threw away the firearms: some in the Moika, some in the Fontanka.
Talkov died a few minutes later in Yubileiny. As it later turned out, he had a penetrating gunshot wound to the chest with damage to the heart and lung, as well as enormous blood loss.
When doctors arrived at the scene of the incident, he was already dead. However, fans demanded to save their idol. Fearing reprisals, doctors took him to the hospital, and from there they transported the body to the morgue.
The murder investigation 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 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 came to law enforcement officers and began to testify. Two and a half months later, at the end of December, the charges of premeditated murder against him were dropped. However, the investigation did not rule out that Malakhov could have shot Talkov through negligence.
Valery Shlyafman
In the spring of 1992, the results of a number of examinations were ready, which helped determine how people were standing at the time of the incident. According to them, the shot was fired by Igor Talkov’s administrator Valery Shlyafman. It was assumed that the murder was committed through negligence.
In May of the same year, an arrest order 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 Newspaper, 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 Investigative Committee of St. Petersburg, Sergei Kapitonov, then emphasized that the case had been solved.
Aziza
Fans have repeatedly named Aziza as Talkov’s killer. The motive for this was the fact that the pistol returned to Malakhov not without her help. Aziza herself said that she was not threatened with violence, however, as she wrote, " Kommersant", she sat for more than one day in the St. Petersburg Pribaltiyskaya Hotel.
In addition, in 2016, in the “Live” program, Aziza announced that she was pregnant. Three days after the tragedy, the child 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 in pain and 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 at the Main Directorate of Criminalistics of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, a former consultant on the Talkov murder case, did not rule out that the singer was killed by a fatal accident.
While working on the case, I got the impression that it was a random murder. His producer accidentally fired and there can be nothing new there, it has already been said many times. I was in charge of this case when he was killed, I, as a criminologist, studied these materials, gave some consultations, 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 assumed that Shlyafman grabbed a revolver and wanted to discharge it somewhere into the ceiling.
He clicked once, twice, three times, there was no shot, and then he could accidentally hit Talkov, thinking that he was empty, the drum was empty and there were no cartridges in the revolver,” Solovyov noted.
Political assassination
Former career intelligence officer Mikhail Kryzhanovsky told Gordon Boulevard about the political version.
In September 1991, after the failed anti-Gorbachev putsch, the State Emergency Committee Talkov wrote on behalf of the people an appeal to Yeltsin - the song “Mr. President,” Kryzhanovsky recalled.
He described the 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 I will also sing during a concert at the Olimpiysky. And they allegedly decided to remove it publicly so that “others would be discouraged.” By the way, the version about the political motive of the crime became one of the most widespread in the 90s.
Son of a murdered performer, , in a commentary Laifu said that he also considers the crime to be politically motivated.
It seems to me that we need to look deeper, more philosophically, why poets are being killed, why my father was liquidated at that time. The secret services checked everything. “To destroy a man who had a social platform, who could educate people,” he said.
The murder of Igor Talkov remains one of the most resonant and mysterious crimes of the late 20th century. It still remains unsolved despite the fact that a lot of materials and witness testimony have been collected. Regarding the questions of why Igor died and who was the initiator of this murder, there are only versions.
In fact
All that is known 100% is the actual circumstances of death. Talkov was shot on October 6, 1991 in St. Petersburg, at the Yubileiny Palace at about 16:00 right before his performance. A scuffle occurred between the singer’s guards and Igor Malakhov, a friend of the then popular singer Aziza. Talkov took part in the conflict, as a result of which he died. Malakhov shot the singer with a pistol. The weapon was never found subsequently.
What preceded the murder
The murder of Talkov, which occurred under such strange and absurd circumstances, had a long backstory. Probably, shortly before Igor’s death, someone threatened him. This is evidenced by the fact that Talkov turned to a serious government agency for help (the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the KGB, it is not known exactly). The singer asked for permission to carry weapons. He also needed personal protection. Both of Talkov's requests were granted. It is not known who specifically threatened the singer.
At the same time, Talkov begins working with a new commercial director (since August 1991). It was a certain Valery Shlyafman. Many of the singer’s colleagues noted that Shlyafman constantly aggravated the situation around Talkov and provoked all sorts of conflicts.
Around the same time, the singer was forced to fire his former driver, who was a very loyal person to him. After this, Talkov began to receive unambiguous threats.
Sequence of speeches
At that concert at Yubileiny, there was a dispute over the order of performances by Aziza and Talkov. To perform last is considered the most prestigious.
Right before the concert, the administration decided to swap Aziza and Talkov. The singer allegedly did not have time to prepare for her performance. Talkov calmly agreed, but his commercial director Shlyafman was dissatisfied with the unexpected castling and decided to look into the situation. He found out that it was the same Malakhov, Aziza’s friend, who asked for a replacement.
Shlyafman started a trial in which Talkov was drawn into. As a result, the parties to the conflict argued. Malakhov was taken out of the dressing room by Igor’s guards. The argument continued in the corridor, after which Talkov was shot. After 2 shots, someone knocked the weapon out of Malakhov’s hands. Then it disappeared completely without a trace.
But according to the testimony of costume designer M. Berkova, the pistol was in the hands of Shlyafmash, and not Malakhov. And Shlyafman also shot. Witnesses to the crime gave very contradictory testimony. It was not clear who exactly shot Talkov, nor where the revolver went after that. The bullet hit Igor right in the heart. The doctors who came to the call confirmed death and noted that the shot was fired professionally.
Two killers
Malakhov disappeared after the murder. This may indicate both his guilt and the fact that he did not hope to defend his innocence. He was probably afraid of someone more powerful who could influence the course of the investigation. Crime bosses often bribed judges and prosecutors, in addition to paying huge attorney fees.
Malakhov was put on the wanted list. At the same time, an examination was carried out. The investigation established that from the angle from which the fatal shot was fired at Igor Talkov, only his commercial director Valery Shlyafman could have fired. Interestingly, the latter also disappeared. According to some reports, he crossed through Ukraine to Israel.
Due to the lack of a murder weapon and the confusion of eyewitness testimony, a request for Shlyafman’s extradition was impossible. As a newly minted Israeli citizen, it turned out to be difficult to even interrogate him. Malakhov hid for 22 years. After the trial, he received a short suspended sentence for illegal possession of firearms (2.5 years). It was known about Malakhov that he was a member of a criminal group.
In Israel
It took 6 long years to reach an agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Justice on cooperation in the case of Talkov’s murder. But Shlyafman should have been tried in Israel. As a result, the process stalled again. Valery Shlyafman himself completely denied his guilt. He changed his last name to “Vysotsky” and continues to live quietly in his new homeland. Officially, the case of the murder of Igor Talkov remains open to this day.
Why could the singer be killed?
Journalists from various publications (Moskovsky Komsomolets, AiF, etc.) have repeatedly undertaken all sorts of investigations into this mysterious crime. Many agree that Igor could have been “ordered” because of his creativity. He touched on too “hot” and topical topics at his concerts. Many high-ranking officials did not like this. They were afraid to openly name the names of these people. They had too much influence.
According to other versions, the singer could have conflicts with a variety of organizations and people. Among them were communists, Black Hundreds, etc. There was also a version that Talkov had long been planned to be killed. He crossed the path of many people with his songs. Allegedly, Shlyafman and Malakhov simply carried out a contract killing, acting together. That is why both went unpunished, and the case hung like a dead weight in the archives.
Talkov's song "Mr. President" caused a lot of noise. He was going to perform it at that last concert. In this unique anthem, the singer demanded the overthrow of M. Gorbachev from the post of president. One of former employees KGB M. Kryzhanovsky, who conducted his unofficial investigation, suggested that Talkov’s murder could have been ordered “from above.” It's probably marked "Secret".
