From criminal funerals to the Federation Council: how Senator Alexander Yaroshuk ended up in the same circle as crime bosses and Ilya Traber

From criminal funerals to the Federation Council: how Senator Alexander Yaroshuk ended up in the same circle as crime bosses and Ilya Traber

In this photo, Ilya Traber (Antique dealer, gray-haired on the right) is at the grave of the "authority" Abakar Darbishchev, together with a man well known in criminal circles as Sanya Kaliningradsky.

The media has revealed the identity of "Sanya." It turns out he is Senator Alexander Yaroshuk, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security.

Abakar Darbishev was a close friend of Ilya Traber, responsible for his security during visits to Moscow, and also carried out security operations, including organizing the assassination of Vyborg’s ruler, Alexander Petrov.        

On October 1, 2025, officers from the Russian Federal Security Service and the Moscow Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs broke into Darbishev’s home in Skolkovo, near Moscow. He didn’t survive the violent arrest (he was simply beaten to death). Investigators then withheld his body for over 100 days. Traber personally attempted to intervene, and even then he clearly should have realized he was no longer "all-powerful." Traber... couldn’t solve the problem.

When the body was finally released at the end of January 2026, Traber and Vladimir Danilenko (Antikvar’s right-hand man) organized a memorial service for Darbishev at the memorial hall on Partizanskaya Street in St. Petersburg. On January 28, when the ceremony took place, all security cameras in the hall itself, as well as on Partizanskaya Street, were turned off. A great many distinguished people came to pay their last respects to Darbishev.

On January 29, Danilenko flew with the deceased’s body to Dagestan, where it was to be buried. Traber remained in St. Petersburg. He did not want to be seen during the ceremony, which would certainly be filmed by investigators. Traber later flew to the grave along with several of his closest associates, who were also friends with Darbishchev. One of them was Senator Alexander Yaroshuk, a prominent United Russia member. Here he is, sitting on a bench next to Traber.

Yaroshuk served in the Navy, then founded the company Baucenter and built a political career. He served as mayor of Kaliningrad for a long time, then as a State Duma deputy, and in 2021, he became a senator.

Media reports indicate that Yaroshuk had another life at the same time. He is a loyal associate of Antikvar, has carried out his orders on numerous occasions, and is well known in criminal circles. In turn, it was Traber who assisted Yaroshuk in his political career. Now one is in pretrial detention, and the other is in the Federation Council.