Minister Kubrakou Attempted To Talk Police Gang Leader Way Out Of Guilt

Now the bandit in uniform faces 20 years in prison.

One of the most high-profile criminal cases of the year is coming to the finish line — the story of a gang of raiders in balaclavas who robbed truckers throughout Belarus. Most of the participants received the minimum punishment, but their leader, police officer Mikhail Zhirski, will most likely be given a huge sentence term, Nasha Niva writes.

In May 2024, security forces reported the detention of five people who robbed parked trucks. While a driver slept in a cab, the criminals broke open the lock of the cargo hold, loaded their minibus with stolen goods — equipment, food and everything — and left the crime scene.

"They operated in the Brest, Mahiliou, Minsk and Homel regions," the Ministry of Internal Affairs' press service reported at the time.

They said that 27-year-old criminal investigation officer of the Dokshytsy District Department of Internal Affairs Mikhail Zhirski was gang's leader.

He not only gave gang members information about the progress of criminal investigations into the committed episodes and took part in planning robberies, but also participated in these raids. In Zhirski's apartment, they found another weapon, different from the service weapon, which appeared in the victims' statements. As well as the same clothes as it was described and balaclava.

After that, the police leadership was changed in Dokshytsy — how did they allow the situation?

But publicly, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs then strongly denied the information in independent media. Minister Ivan Kubrakou then made a video statement: they say there was a gang, but no police officer was part of it. Naturally, he kept silent about the fate of Mikhail Zhirski.

As it turned out, the security forces decided to separate the Zhirski case into a separate proceeding — so as not to stain the department.

Meanwhile, the other raiders were condemned. The verdict was shockingly humane. While Internet commentators are given real terms in prison, four robbers of trucks were given... probation. And only one of them, a recidivist – 4 years in prison.

It is noteworthy that their verdict includes thefts only in the Homel and Minsk regions — although at the start they were accused of adventures in both the Brest and Mahiliou regions.

And now they are beginning to judge Mikhail Zhirski. A childhood friend, Aliaksandr Perepechka, will sit in the same cage with him.

Less is known about 27-year-old Aliaksandr Perepechka. He served in the army, lived in the agro-town of Biarozki near Dokshytsy. At the end of 2022, he was sentenced to community service for theft. According to our data, he planned raids together with Zhirski and played the role of a driver who picked up and took out for sale the loot.

Zhirski and Perepechka are charged not just with theft, but with a much more serious charge.

This is "extortion committed by a group of persons, or with the threat of murder or causing grievous bodily harm, or in order to obtain benefits on a large scale" (Part 3 of Art. 208 of the Criminal Code) — from 5 to 15 years in prison.

Also in the charge (perhaps only Zhirski) there is "abuse of power or official authority" (Part 2 of Art. 424 of the Criminal Code) — from 2 to 6 years in prison.

By the method of adding up the sentence, Zhirski can receive up to 20 years in prison.

It is noteworthy that Zhirski and Perepechka — we recall, both lived and worked in the Dokshytsy district — are being tried in the Nesvizh district.

What could they do near Nesvizh? Most likely, they are connected with this region only by the fact that the M1 highway passes through its territory and there is a parking lot for trucks, which were robbed under the control of the police officer Zhirski.

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