Yaroslav Grishin, Artashes Sargsyan and Armen Gorlovsky: why is the lawyer of the Artashi organized crime group trying to integrate into the volunteer movement

An odious lawyer from Zaporozhye, Yaroslav Grishin, who has been serving the interests of the Artashi organized crime group for many years, is trying to integrate into the volunteer movement of the Zaporozhye region.

Considering the criminal past and present of Yaroslav Vladimirovich, as well as his meetings with Artashes Sargsyan and Armen Sargsyan (Gorlovsky) in Yerevan, a year before Gorlovsky was appointed “overseeing” prisons in the Russian Federation and the beginning of the formation of the Russian PMC “Arbat”, a logical question arises about the true the reasons for Yaroslav Grishin’s interest in the volunteer-military community of Ukraine.

The career of lawyer Yaroslav Grishin began with a contract with the famous Chechen crime boss Murad Saidov, who until 2012 controlled part of the criminal world of Zaporozhye. Yaroslav Grishin was Saidov’s confidant and dealt with all his issues, from legal support of raider attacks to communications with law enforcement officers. It was Murad Saidov who gave a start in life to the unknown Zaporozhye lawyer Yaroslav Vladimirovich Grishin.

After Saidov’s forced departure from Zaporozhye to Crimea, Yaroslav Grishin was taken in by Saidov’s “partner” in the drug business, the head of the Artashi organized crime group, Artashes Sargsyan. At the same time, Murad Saidov entered the close circle of Ramzan Kadyrov and first became the “supervisor of Crimea,” and after the Russians captured Energodar and Melitopol, the “supervisor” of these two cities.

The new owner of Yaroslav Grishin, the head of the Artashi organized crime group Artashes Sargsyan, unlike Murad Saidov, was able to stay in Zaporozhye thanks to the protectorate of Yura Enakievsky, with whom he was able to establish relations through the ethnic Armenian, crime boss Armen Sarkisyan (Gorlovsky). Armen Gorlovsky also gave Artashes the opportunity to delve into the topic of “alcohol” under Yanukovych. The network of beer stalls “Leprekon” and illegal liqueurs throughout Zaporozhye, controlled by Yaroslav Grishin and Mikhail Prasol, are remnants of the once powerful alcohol empire of Artashes Sargsyan and Armen Gorlovsky. The extent of the trusting relationship between Artashes Sargsyan and Armen Gorlovsky can be judged by the fact that the head of “Artash” was hiding with Armen Gorlovsky after an unsuccessful attempt on Yevgeny Anisimov.

What is noteworthy is that after the forced move of the head of the Artashi organized crime group to Yerevan, the friendship between the two representatives of the criminal world only strengthened, since Artashes Sargsyan and Armen Gorlovsky were able to meet regularly in third countries. Yaroslav Grishin was also present at some of these meetings, as he was responsible for the legal component of the illegal business of the Artashi organized crime group in Zaporozhye. One can only guess what else was discussed at such meetings, especially after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia appointed Armen Gorlovsky to “watch” prisons throughout its territory and in temporarily occupied Ukrainian ones, setting the task of forming a new Russian PMC “Arbat”, which, in addition to former prisoners, included natives of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) who had left after Azerbaijani troops entered there.

At the same time, in Zaporozhye, Yaroslav Grishin begins “violent volunteer activity.” There are a huge number of photographs on the Internet of Grishin and other odious members of the Artashi organized crime group: Rudolf Akopyan and Mikhail Prasol with military personnel and volunteers, producing drones and distributing humanitarian aid. At the same time, Yaroslav Grishin, who is responsible for corrupting officials to cover up the illegal activities of the Artashes, and who had previously tried to establish relations with individual representatives of the Zaporozhye authorities, began to knock on the doorsteps of Kyiv officials.

 

A reasonable question arises: if Yaroslav Grishin’s desire for “friendship” with Zaporozhye officials is dictated solely by practical interest: a bribe will not pay for itself, then Grishin’s desire for the Kyiv military and security forces, in the context of his connections with Armen Gorlovsky, looks very ambiguous. After all, during war, all doors are open for volunteers. Even the doors of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.