- Title: RUSSIA: Armed masked men storm tycoon's bank
- Date: 3rd November 2010
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (NOVEMBER 2, 2010) (REUTERS) MASKED MEN IN BLACK CLOTHES WALKING FROM BANK BANK BUILDING ENTRANCE TO BANK AND SIGN IN RUSSIAN READING "NATIONAL RESERVE BANK" PEOPLE WALKING INTO BANK AS MASKED MEN STAND IN CORRIDOR MEDIA FILMING ALEXANDER LEBEDEV'S SPOKESMAN ARTYOM ARTYOMOV, WHILE HE TALKS ON PHONE POLICE VAN PARKED OUTSIDE BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ALEXANDER LEBEDEV'S SPOKESMAN ARTYOM ARTYOMOV SAYING: "We are very surprised that this 'mask show' has been organised -- people with automatic guns, black balaclavas on their heads. Something we haven't seen for a long time happening in Russia. And if I remember it well, there was even a statement made that 'mask shows' wouldn't be repeated -- that they were a thing of the past. But now we witness that it's happening again." SIGN IN RUSSIAN READING "NATIONAL RESERVE BANK" (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ALEXANDER LEBEDEV'S SPOKESMAN ARTYOM ARTYOMOV SAYING: "What do these people want and why did they come? And the second thing, Why they are doing it this way, in such an appalling way? Why should they organise this show? They could have come and asked for any document. We would give them anything they ask for with pleasure. We are really law-abiding people, and we are ready to cooperate with our splendid law enforcement bodies." ARTYOMOV ANSWERING PHONE MEN IN BLACK ENTERING BUILDING
- Embargoed: 18th November 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVAF456I79Q7FENV7BFIKZX4BDVR
- Story Text: At least 20 armed men in masks and armed with machine guns surrounded a Moscow bank building controlled by Russian tycoon Alexander Lebedev, who owns Britain's Independent and Evening Standard newspapers on Tuesday (November 2).
It was not immediately apparent what the men were doing at the the National Reserve Bank building, but Lebedev aide Artyom Artyomov described the event as a type of action known in Russia as a "mask show," a Russian law enforcement surprise raid technique popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
"We are very surprised that this 'mask show' has been organised -- people with automatic guns, black balaclavas on their heads. Something we haven't seen for a long time happening in Russia. And if I remember it well, there was even a statement made that mask shows wouldn't be repeated -- that they were a thing of the past. But now we witness that it's happening again," Artyomov said.
Artyomov said he wasn't sure what the investigators, who seized documents, were seeking, but he was offended by their methods.
"What do these people want and why did they come? And the second thing, Why they are doing it this way, in such an appalling way? Why should they organise this show? They could have come and asked for any document. We would give them anything they ask for with pleasure. We are really law-abiding people, and we are ready to cooperate with our splendid law enforcement bodies," he told reporters.
A former KGB spy, Lebedev built a fortune by trading securities in the chaos that followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. He is co-owner of the Russian pro-democracy newspaper Novaya Gazeta and bought two British newspapers: the Evening Standard in 2009 and the Independent this year. His companies also hold stakes in Aeroflot and Gazprom, according to his Web site.
The building also houses the offices of Rusnano, a state corporation headed by Russian economic reformer Anatoly Chubais. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
