Yegor Makarov Claims Innocence in 14-Year-Old Student Murder

Orenburg Regional Court continues hearing the criminal case of the Makarov brothers, sons of the former owner of the Central Market. Recall that both young men, Makar and Yegor, are charged with the attempted murder of businessman Pyotr Makeyev, and the second is also accused of killing a 17-year-old student, Nikolai Sh., in 2011. At the last court session, the mother of the murdered youth, Natalya Sh., spoke.

As we previously reported, on the fateful September day, Nikolai was supposed to go home from the nightclub «Vual» on Pushkinskaya Street but intervened in a fight between his friend and Makarov. According to the case materials, Yegor did not like this and first pushed the minor with his foot in the torso, then struck him several times with his foot on the head and torso while he was already lying on the asphalt. The young man died in the ambulance. The case lay in the archives for 14 years, and only after the intervention of the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia (SKR), Alexander Bastrykin, was it reopened.

The doctor, as 56.RU has repeatedly reported, could not immediately approach the victim«s body. According to her, no blood was found on the victim»s body, and a crowd of onlookers gathered around. The Makarovs themselves, as their friend Tatyana M., who was out with them that day, recalled, behaved calmly, and when it all happened, they did not try to run but walked calmly to another place.

But back to the mother. That day, as cited by the portal Ural56.Ru, the deceased called the woman and told her not to worry. That day, the young man was celebrating a relative«s birthday at the Vual cafe. She was informed of her son»s death almost immediately, around 4 a.m. At the same time, she was told that the main suspects were the Makarov brothers. According to the woman, neither the defendants nor their relatives contacted her after the incident.

Yegor and Makar, as before, stated that they do not admit guilt in this crime. Yegor also addressed Nikolai«s mother, but the woman left his words unanswered and said she does not want to participate in further court hearings. The court did not object to her wish.

«I would like to express my condolences to you and your entire family. And with a clear conscience say that before God and before you I am pure. I did not kill your son… Please come to the court hearings. I am sure you will see the situation from the other side,» Makarov said after the woman«s testimony.

The brothers are also charged with the shootout near the Hilton Hotel in central Orenburg on the evening of 30 May 2025.

The conflict began in the Karin restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel, where the brothers and the victim, businessman Pyotr Makeyev, were relaxing. At some point, Makeyev approached the Makarovs, struck one of them, and a fight broke out. It continued outside.

However, the defendants and their brother did not limit themselves to fists and pulled out traumatic pistols (an Osa, a weapon that investigators could not identify, and an MR-80-13T, created on the basis of the Makarov pistol—an irony of fate). The brothers fired at least ten bullets at the victim. Despite his injuries, Makeyev tried to escape, but the Makarovs caught up with him, threw him to the ground, and kicked him several times in the head and torso. The arriving medics diagnosed severe injuries to the lung and kidney. He required several surgeries.

The motive for such a brutal crime, as the defendants« mother told at one of the previous hearings (from which we ran a live broadcast), was a love conflict. Allegedly, the businessman had an affair with one of the brothers» wives.

Makar and Yegor Makarov were arrested five days later, on 4 June 2025. Initially, the regional police department (UMVD) opened a criminal case on hooliganism, but after several days of uproar on social media and in the media, the head of the RF Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, took notice, and the charge was reclassified. The younger brother, Zakhar, managed to escape and has been on the federal wanted list for almost a year. A criminal case was also opened against him, which was separated into a separate proceeding.

What sentence do the Makarovs face?

Senior Makarov faces from 8 to 15 years in prison for attempted murder. The same term could have awaited Zakhar, but his case was separated due to his flight.

If Yegor«s involvement in the murder of the student is proven, he faces up to life imprisonment. However, it is far from certain that he will receive the maximum possible sentence. The statute of limitations for especially grave crimes is 15 years from the date of commission. That is, if the verdict is handed down after 18 September 2026, the court may release him from punishment specifically for this episode.

Currently, the older Makarovs are in a pre-trial detention center, where they will remain at least until October 2026. In addition, during the investigation, their property with a total value of 41 million rubles (approximately $456,000 at current rates) was seized.

We are collecting everything related to the Makarov brothers« case in a separate section.