A court in Russia's St. Petersburg has convicted a high-profile reputed mafia kingpin of murder and attempted murder and has sentenced him to 23 years in prison.
The St. Petersburg Municipal Court on August 18 convicted Vladimir Barsukov, also known as Kumarin, the alleged head of the notorious Tambov organized crime group, of the attempted assassination in 2006 of Petersburg Oil Terminal owner Sergei Vasilyev and the murder of Vasilyev’s bodyguard.
Barsukov is already serving a 15-year prison term after being convicted of extortion and asset-grabbing in 2009.
Barsukov was a powerful figure in the 1990s and was vice president of the Petersburg Fuel Company.
President Vladimir Putin awarded that company the city's lucrative gasoline concession in 1994 when he was a Petersburg deputy mayor.
