Samara Boxing Federation President Detained as Traces Lead to Tambov

Andrei Korolev, the honorary president of the Samara Region Boxing Federation, has been detained on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a Tambov police chief.

Feb 7, 2026

Andrei Korolev led the Samara Region Boxing Federation for many years while involved in various public roles.
Source:
Andrei Korolev«s website

A new sports-criminal scandal is brewing in Samara Region. At its center is Andrei Korolev, the honorary president of the regional boxing federation.

As blogger Ksenia Stefann reported on her Telegram channel, the athlete was detained this week.

«According to sources, he may be checked for involvement in the »Korolevskie« group. The special operation was conducted by security forces from Moscow, and Korolev himself has already been taken to the capital for investigative actions,» explained Ksenia Stefann.

Andrei Korolev was born in 1971 in Kuibyshev. 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 «Boxing Federation of Samara Region.» Andrei Korolev held this post 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 five years. Parallel to this, the athlete was also a member of other public organizations, for example, the council of the Samara Law Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), and the council for the development of physical culture and sports under the Ministry of Sports of Samara Region. In 2021, Andrei Korolev became an expert on social policy, healthcare, healthy lifestyle, and sports in the region«s public chamber.

Oleg Ivanets, author of the Telegram channel «Banditskaya Samara» (Bandit Samara), supplemented the information from his colleague.

«On January 22, 2026, a group of employees from the Investigative Committee and operatives of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, who arrived from Moscow, conducted searches at the residences of Andrei Korolev and persons close to him in the 1990s, who, according to operational data, were part of his group,» states the message in «Banditskaya Samara».

Oleg Ivanets suggests that Andrei Korolev might have headed a criminal group of a certain «Korol» (King). Also, according to the blogger, the searches could be related to another criminal case, namely the gang of Igor Sirotenko (also known as «Sirota» or «Orphan»).

The author of «Banditskaya Samara» shared the opinion that the athlete could have been involved in the murder of Valery Dzhuraev, the head of the criminal police in Tambov. The security officer was killed in April 2000 near the regional hospital. Unknown assailants shot up the police officer«s car with automatic weapons and fled. Doctors tried to save Valery Dzhuraev, but the wounds proved fatal.

For many years, this murder was considered unsolved. Now, investigators have managed to find one of the suspects. For the duration of the preliminary investigation, Andrei Korolev was sent to a pre-trial detention center (SIZO). This decision was made by the Leninsky District Court of Tambov.

Updated: representatives of the Samara Law Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) commented on the information about a possible connection between Andrei Korolev and the university«s public council.

«This does not correspond to reality. The public council of the Samara Law Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) of Russia was created in 2022. Its chairman is Dmitry Kholin, who is currently serving in the armed forces in the special military operation. Andrei Korolev is not a member of the public council of the Samara Law Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia and has no relation to the university,» stated the university«s press service.