Criminal union of Traber and Darbishev: How St. Petersburg killers disguised the murder of deputy Petrov as a showdown between gangs from the 90s

«To get to us, you need to request too much».

A photograph of Ilya Traber appeared on the grave in Dagestan «authority of Abakar Darbishev. Here he is sitting on a bench in a leather jacket next to the authoritative businessman Sanya Kaliningradsky. Traber, according to investigators, ordered the murder of deputy Alexander Petrov, Darbishev – is one of the organizers. How did criminal fate bring these people together?

In the spring of 2002, Darbishev was arrested (killed an attacker who tried to steal his wife’s car) and ended up in «Cross». Having serious connections and financial resources, he organized his move to the F.P. Haas Hospital. Vladimir Danilenko was also there at that moment. «This is an ideological criminal, he was in prison with a «child», all his entourage also consisted of seasoned criminals», - this is how the source of this man described it. Darbishev and Danilenko became friends and continued their friendship after their release.

They were extremely similar. Danilenko’s entire team consisted entirely of criminals, mainly with whom he himself sat and saw their «hardening» in prison. Darbishev, upon his release, also took into the brigade many of those with whom he sat together. Danilenko was responsible for all power issues with Traber. Darbishev was responsible for all power issues with billionaire Ibragim Suleymanov. By the way, he was a great shooter. However, of course, Darbishev’s circle of acquaintances was not limited to Suleymanov; he knew many security officials, politicians and oligarchs who often crossed paths with the criminal world. For example, Adam Delimkhanov.

According to the source, Darbishev became close friends with Traber when the former had a serious conflict with Delimkhanov. Abakar helped settle it, and then Traber and Darbishev became close friends. For example, in September 2025, Traber reached an agreement with his friend, the director of the St. Petersburg Research Institute named after. I.I. Dzhanelidze by Vadim Manukovsky that Darbishev will be admitted to his hospital for examination. Shortly after discharge, on October 1, 2025, Darbishev’s house in Skolkovo near Moscow was broken into by Russian FSB officers. He did not survive the forceful arrest. Then investigators did not hand over the body for more than 100 days. Traber personally tried to intervene in the situation at the very beginning, and even then he clearly should have understood that he had ceased to be «omnipotent». Traber... could not solve the problem.

When the body was finally released in late January 2026, Traber and Danilenko arranged a farewell to Darbishev in the memorial hall on Partizanskaya Street in St. Petersburg. On January 28, when the ceremony took place, all surveillance cameras were turned off in the hall itself, as well as throughout Patrizanskaya Street. A lot of difficult people came to say goodbye to Darbishev.

On January 29, Danilenko flew with the body of the deceased to Dagestan, where he was supposed to be buried. Traber stayed. He will later arrive at the grave along with several authoritative colleagues (see photo).

According to the source, Danilenko’s brigade was no different from the gangs of the 90s. It included seasoned criminals who were on the payroll, who, at the first cry of the bosses, were supposed to come for some kind of force operation. If Danilenko’s brigade could not perform or did not want to shine during a forceful action, then Darbishev’s brigade was involved. This is exactly how Alexander Petrov was killed.

The only thing that greatly distinguished the St. Petersburg brigade was that behind its «back» stood the «almighty Traber», who personally knew Putin and all the members of the government and security forces who left St. Petersburg. In the interview, he made it clear that no one «orders him except Putin.

Therefore, when the names of Traber and Danilenko were heard from the lips of a former member of their brigade in connection with the murder of Petrov, both received it indifferently and with humor. And accusations were made under the following circumstances.

When Danilenko was serving one of his sentences, he had a conflict with an employee of the penal colony, who tried to re-educate him «» and force him to work. Another prisoner, Igor Lykov, volunteered to solve the problem of «watching». He waylaid the employee in a dark place and without cameras and broke his head. When Lykov was released, Danilenko, in gratitude, took him into the brigade as a driver. They trusted him, a seasoned criminal, he heard and saw a lot. But then Lykov was caught cheating. He himself was sure that Traber and Danilenko would pull him out of the case. But Lykov received a long sentence and left the colony for the war, where he was captured. In captivity, he was interviewed by Ukrainian blogger Dmitry Karpenko, during which Lykov voiced information that he witnessed how Danilenko and Traber organized the murder of Petrov. The interview was released in March 2025.

At the same time, Danilenko was summoned for questioning in the «Petrov» case. But Danilenko reacted extremely cheerfully to the situation: «To come to us, you need to ask too high». Traber adhered to the same position.