Samara Athlete Andrey Korolev Faces Murder Charges from 2000s

Details have emerged in the criminal case involving a 54-year-old athlete from Samara Region. Andrey Korolev, the honorary president of the regional boxing federation, is accused of murder. The details were announced by representatives of the Investigative Committee of Tambov Region. They also shared operational video.

According to the investigation, preparations for the crime began back in 1999. The prosecution believes that the athlete was the leader of an organized crime group in Samara Region at that time.

‘He gave instructions to a group of individuals to commit the murder of the head of the Tambov District Police Department, who previously headed the unit for combating organized crime,’ investigators explained.

They suggest that in December 1999, four perpetrators arrived in Tambov. Here, the bandits lived in safe houses for several months, monitoring the police officer. Simultaneously, the ‘guests from Samara’ sought means of communication, cars, and weapons.

On April 13, 2000, the assailants waited for the police officer to exit the regional hospital and shot him. The law enforcement officer died from his injuries.

For almost a quarter of a century, the crime was considered unsolved. At some point, investigators even suspended the investigation as they could not identify all participants in the murder. But recently, the case has been moved off dead center.

In addition to Andrey Korolev, charges have been brought against another individual. He, according to investigators, could have been a participant in the organized crime group.

The detention and arrest of the Samara athlete became known at the end of last week. Several local bloggers reported this.

Andrey Korolev was born in 1971 in Kuibyshev (now Samara). In 2005, he received a higher education in jurisprudence from the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation. A year later, he headed the public organization ‘Samara Region Boxing Federation’. Andrey Korolev held this position until 2016. After that, he was elected honorary president of the organization. In 2017, he was elected to the position of president of the World Federation of Fudokan Karate-do for a term of 5 years. Concurrently, the athlete was a member of several public organizations. In 2021, Andrey Korolev became an expert on social policy, healthcare, healthy lifestyle, and sports in the region«s public chamber.

According to Samara bloggers, Andrey Korolev could have been involved in the ‘Korolevskie’ organized crime group. There is also an opinion that law enforcement agencies are checking the athlete«s connection with the gang of Igor Sirotenko (also known as ‘Sirota’).