The Oktyabrsky District Court of Ivanovo, acting on a prosecutor’s lawsuit, recognized 15 people previously convicted of drug production and attempted large-scale distribution as an “extremist association.” The press service of the Ivanovo Regional Court reported this.
The court also ordered the defendants’ property to be transferred to the state. According to Kommersant, this concerns more than 11 million rubles held in their accounts.
Among the defendants in the lawsuit filed by Ivanovo region prosecutor Andrei Zhugin was Givi Kalmakhelidze, described as the leader of the group. Kalmakhelidze is a former officer of the Interior Ministry and the Federal Drug Control Service. In 2025, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, while other participants received prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years. Two of those convicted are retired Interior Ministry officers.
According to Zhugin, the case is meant to “once and for all establish the simple truth: extremism and narcotism are one and the same evil,” Kommersant reported.
According to the prosecution, from 2019 onward the group rented houses and garages in the Ivanovo region, where they set up drug laboratories. Investigators say they produced more than 90 kilograms of mephedrone, sold it in Moscow and other regions, and kept the proceeds in one of the Moscow City skyscrapers.
The prosecutor also alleged in court that Kalmakhelidze and his associates cooperated with residents of Ukraine. In his version, “handlers from Ukraine” linked to intelligence services supplied the group with labor, chemical reagents, and established distribution channels. Zhugin further said that while already in prison, the defendants allegedly integrated into A.U.E., a movement banned in Russia and designated extremist there, followed prison criminal norms, and transferred money to a common fund.