Oct 12

Joe Smith

A top Russian judge described as “unusually independent-minded and incorruptible” involved in high-profile cases was killed in the Crimea bridge explosion, it has emerged.

In a dramatic new twist it appears a black Cadillac belonging to judge Sergey Maslov, 42, was next to a truck which – until now – has been seen as being at the epicentre of the explosion.

The judge, who had investigated family members of Putin’s cronies as well as energy company Gazprom, which has close links to the oligarch – died in Saturday’s blast on the £3.3 billion bridge, reports newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK).

The car plunged into the sea from a destroyed section of the crossing in Saturday’s blast – it was reported that tour guides and documentary makers Eduard Chuchakin, 53, and his wife Zoya Sofronova, 33, from St Petersburg had died in the car.

For unknown reasons, the name of the judge was not released at the same time as those two others in his car.

A fourth victim in the Cadillac was reported to be Gleb Orgetkin, 26, a fitness instructor.

Russia was quick to announce that the explosion was the result of a truck bomb, variously blaming Ukraine, Bulgaria and Britain.

The judge’s death – if confirmed – may alter the way the explosion is viewed.

The car was close to the truck when the explosion came.

Already there had been suggestions that the explosion may have been a Russian operation to justify a huge missile attack on Ukraine, which has now taken place to please Putin’s hardliner backers.

The media outlet speculated that explosives may have been in the vehicle, rather than the truck.

The judge had “considered high-profile cases [involving] gigantic sums”, it said.

“The last case that fell into the judge’s proceedings was where Ramzan Kadyrov’s daughter acted as the defendant”.

One case before him was won by Gazprom in October 2020.

“The Cadillac Escalade is a huge and heavy car that could hold a lot of explosives, for example, amongst luggage,” stated the report without citing any evidence for its claim.

A picture of his vehicle has since emerged.

“To this we can add that the judge was an inviolable person and no-one would inspect his car.

“So the version that the target of the explosion, from which [nearby train tankers full of fuel] also exploded, could well have been Maslov, has the right to be considered.

The driver of the truck Makhir Yusubov, 52, was also believed to have been killed in the blast.

Close Putin ally Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Investigative Committee, said the red-coloured truck had been to NATO country Bulgaria as well as Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, the Russian region of Krasnodar ahead of the explosion.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/top-russian-judge-killed-crimea-28207926