Golden Lexus investigator gets promotion despite scandal
Artyom Khalilov at a court hearing in 2019
Artyom Khalilov, deputy head of the Investigative Committee«s (SKR) department for the Oktyabrsky district of Yekaterinburg, who became widely known after a gas station scandal, has been promoted. He now heads the Investigative Committee»s investigative department in Polevskoy (Sverdlovsk Region), though not everyone is pleased about it. Here are the details and a look back at the career of the officer of justice.
Artyom Istomin in court
«The investigator in a golden Lexus»
Khalilov«s appointment is reflected on the agency»s official website
That is what the media dubbed Artyom Khalilov in 2019. It happened after an incident at a gas station. An ordinary Yekaterinburg resident, Artyom Istomin, decided to inflate his tires, but when his turn came, a golden Lexus suddenly pulled up, and its driver — Khalilov himself — said he would use the pump first. A conflict broke out.
The parking lot conflict was captured by surveillance cameras
«He cursed me out badly,» Istomin said of Khalilov. «He started tearing the hose out of my hands and grabbed me by the throat. I was genuinely scared, because he is bigger than me, clearly stronger. I had a folding knife, but I never opened it — I just clenched it in my fist as a weight. He told me: »Do you know who I am? You«ve ruined your life, I»ll put you in prison.«»
Later, Artyom Khalilov accused his counterpart of threatening to kill him. To refute this, Istomin«s defense even brought in Olympic boxing champion Yegor Mekhontsev as an expert — he analyzed the surveillance camera footage and explained that it was the Lexus driver who attacked, while his opponent was defending himself.
In 2020, a court acquitted Istomin, finding no confirmation of the investigator«s words. The law enforcement officer appealed the verdict, but unsuccessfully. By the way, a probe was even conducted into him at the demand of the head of Russia»s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin. In the end, Khalilov remained in his post as deputy head of the Oktyabrsky SKR department, and now he has even received a promotion.
A transfer to another city
In the spring of 2025, rumors circulated among law enforcement that Artyom Khalilov might take the post of head of the SKR for the Chkalovsky district of Yekaterinburg. The then-head, Lieutenant Colonel Nikita Savintsev, resigned and obtained attorney status.
The second candidate for the vacant post was the head of the SKR department in Turinsk, Alexander Petrov. In the end, the position went to him.
«In Turinsk, Petrov earned a good reputation. Before that, he had experience working in the capital of the Urals. On August 1, 2025, he took up his new post,» a source told E1.RU.
Khalilov himself did not confirm reports of working in the Chkalovsky SKR. In the end, he left for Polevskoy. According to our source, local investigators reacted to this appointment with skepticism. The staffing decision also displeased lawyer Sergei Kolosovsky, whose team defended Istomin in 2019.
«It would seem the logical outcome should have been an evaluation and dismissal — but instead, here is an appointment to a higher position. For comparison: many years ago, an acquaintance of mine got into a road conflict. The driver and passenger of the second car started waving their arms, and as a result, they were beaten. Since they were driving to duty, they arrived there with battered faces and filed reports that some pot-bellied man had beaten them on the road. I forgot to mention: they were OMON officers. The next day, the leadership dismissed both of them, because the bosses back then had a notion of officer honor.
The example with Khalilov, alas, is the opposite. What is going on? Is personnel policy built on gathering the weak and disgraced and giving them power to compensate for their grievances? I don«t want to believe it. Or is the system in the agency simply structured so that the respected Alexander Ivanovich does not know what is happening in the units, and his subordinates hide it from him?» Sergei Kolosovsky said.
Earlier in Yekaterinburg, talk turned to the resignation of the head of the city«s Interior Ministry, Viktor Poznyak, who is tipped for a return to the regional police headquarters. Meanwhile, his deputy Nikolai Pochayevets transferred to another region.
