Yakutin: Examination of the Victims

About the case: Police Lieutenant Ilya Vyacheslavovich Yakutin, a traffic police (DPS) officer, is charged with exceeding his official powers with the use of torture, resulting in grave bodily harm (Part 5 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the investigation, he was pursuing a car that had refused to stop when signaled by the police. When the car was finally stopped in a courtyard, Yakutin pulled two passengers out of it (neither of whom was the driver) and beat them. One of the victims was hospitalized in serious condition.

The case is being heard by the Frunzensky district court of St. Petersburg, with Judge Roman Aleksandrovich Chebotarev presiding.

In the corridor before the hearing, the defendant and his lawyer handed money to the victims as compensation for the harm caused and obtained receipts from them.

Taking part in the hearing are the defendant, Yakutin (under house arrest), his lawyer Palshkov, state prosecutor Chezhia, the victim Krasnov and his representative, lawyer Gerasimov, and the victim Stepanov and his representative, lawyer Tereshchenko.

Although the courtroom is large, only 1 chair and 3 two-seat benches are set aside for the public, 2 of which are placed right up against the “aquarium” (the glass dock).

Throughout the hearing, the presiding judge spoke to everyone in a harsh, commanding tone, including urging people to carry out his instructions faster (to approach the stand and sign to confirm that their rights had been explained). This applied above all to the victims (“come on, let’s move faster”, “don’t mumble”).

Lawyer Palshkov moves to add to the case file receipts from Krasnov and Stepanov confirming that they received 100,000 rubles and 50,000 rubles respectively from Yakutin as partial compensation for moral damage.

The victims confirm that they received the money. The motion is granted, and the receipts are admitted as documents characterizing the defendant.

The defense counsel then asks the court to consider Yakutin’s application for permission to leave his home to visit a clinic because of a toothache.

There are no objections. The court grants the request, allowing the defendant a one-time visit to the dentist, after which he must submit documents confirming the visit and notify the court of any treatment prescribed.

The defendant’s procedural rights are explained to him. Asked whether he wishes to testify, Yakutin says he intends to do so at the end of the judicial investigation.

The victim A.V. Krasnov, director of the technical operations department, is examined.

The judge tells him in advance: “Right then, comrade victim, I have a request: please, first of all, don’t mumble, speak clearly, otherwise we’ll all be here till night. Like an essay, everything in detail, clearly, you’re a grown man, yes. Go ahead”. Most of the questions are asked by the representative, Tereshchenko.

Krasnov says that on December 10, 2025, at 11:00 p.m., he arrived in St. Petersburg by train with the second victim, and they hailed a passing car to get to Stepanov’s apartment. As they approached the address, the driver broke the traffic rules by running a red light, and a traffic police patrol car appeared, ordering them to pull over and stop. The driver apologized to them (the victims), then ignored the order and drove off to get away. The chase lasted several minutes; the car drove into a dead end in a courtyard and was blocked in.

The traffic police officer opened the door, did not introduce himself or show his ID, pulled Krasnov out of the car by the collar, and immediately began beating him. He kicked him in the upper body; Krasnov clearly remembers only 2 blows to the head. “It was raining outside, there were puddles, I put my hands on the ground so as not to lie down in the puddle, after that 1–2 blows, and then everything is very blurry… like in a fog”. The next thing he remembers is getting to his feet and seeing Stepanov lying across the trunk of the car in handcuffs; he himself was not handcuffed. They kept insisting that they had nothing to do with it; the officers returned their belongings and let them go. No paperwork was drawn up, and the victims went home. He spent the night at Stepanov’s, where they treated his wound, because “there was blood everywhere”; his eyebrow was split and his eye was swollen shut.

On the train they each drank 200 ml of wine; by the time of the events, 2 hours had passed and they were already sober. In the car they sat in the back seat, and when they were being pulled out, they immediately said that they had nothing to do with the driver and were just passengers.

He does not remember whether he was struck after getting back on his feet. The video recording he later viewed shows Yakutin sweeping his legs out from under him, knocking him to the ground again. The victims did not resist and did not insult or threaten anyone: “They were on duty, armed, we were afraid of them”.

As a result of Yakutin’s actions, the victim suffered fractures and permanently lost the sight in his left eye. His vision in the right eye has also deteriorated, and he has been prescribed glasses. His quality of life has deteriorated significantly: office work is harder, and physical labor is completely ruled out, since his spatial orientation is poor and he bumps into things. He has not applied for disability status.

At the Investigative Committee, prompted by his lawyer, Yakutin expressed regret over what had happened, saying that he had taken them for drug addicts or alcoholics. The victim, however, did not regard this as a genuine apology.

Yakutin is given the opportunity to ask questions, but instead he essentially gives his own explanations in response to the victim’s testimony. The state prosecutor objects, saying this is impermissible at this stage. The court overrules the objection, reprimands the prosecutor for interrupting, and does not stop the defendant. After hearing Yakutin out, the court explains its position: all such statements will be treated as testimony, which the defendant is entitled to give at any point during the judicial investigation.

Yakutin’s testimony boils down to this: he apologized to the victims, saying, “Guys, well, a situation came up here that I considered dangerous, and so I used physical force, thinking you were criminals and not just passengers in some taxi with a drunk driver”; he let the victims go home, and they said: “Let’s settle this man to man, you have a tough job”.

The court asks whether the victim agrees with the defendant’s “partial testimony, remark”. Krasnov replies that on the whole it corresponds to what happened. He explains that at the time he and Stepanov made no complaints against the police officers because they wanted to get away “while the going was good”, fearing that the officers’ unlawful actions would continue.

The state prosecutor moves for the victim’s written testimony to be read out, citing significant contradictions regarding the sequence of blows and an incorrect indication of the crime scene. There are no objections; the motion is granted, and the state prosecutor reads out the case materials.

Record of the examination of the victim Krasnov dated December 15, 2025 (the prosecutor stumbles and skips many words because the handwriting is illegible: “handwritten, hard to read”, “the next word is illegible”).

On the whole it matches the victim’s testimony in court, with a more detailed account of the events before he was injured. He called a taxi from the station, but because of a geolocation glitch he placed the pin on the map incorrectly, so the driver took them to the wrong place and dropped them off several blocks from the correct address. They did not call another taxi; Stepanov suggested walking, but it was late and that seemed unsafe. They saw a car nearby and decided to ask the driver to give them a lift; he agreed for 1,000 rubles. They set off, the driver ran a red light, Stepanov told him off, and so he stopped at the next traffic light, at which point a traffic police car pulled up alongside them. The driver did not stop, even though he and Stepanov repeatedly asked him to; he ignored them and said he could not afford to be detained. In addition to Yakutin’s actions, the record notes that after the car was stopped, another traffic police officer pulled the driver out and put him face down on the ground.

He was in a state of pain shock, with blood on his face, chest, and head; he was later diagnosed with a skull fractured in 3 places and multiple bruises.

Record of the additional examination of Krasnov dated March 23, 2026

He confirms his earlier testimony and that he was injured by a “GAI” (traffic police) officer, Yakutin, and gives the address of the incident (43 Bukharestskaya Street). They did not get out of the car but waited for the officer to come over, so they could explain the whole situation to him and not give him reason to think they wanted to run away.

“Yakutin opened the car door on my side, he immediately grabbed me by the collar so that my chain with a cross broke, after which he put me on the asphalt in a puddle, lying on my stomach <…> my face was also right on the asphalt <…> I put both hands out in front of me so as not to fall face first into the puddle, everything happened very quickly; from the moment Yakutin began pulling me out of the car, I immediately started telling him that I was a passenger, that I had nothing to do with the driver not stopping when they ordered him to, to which Yakutin replied that I should shut up and he would figure everything out himself, at that moment Yakutin kicked me in the head 3 times <…> after these blows I began to feel very unwell, a veil came over my eyes <…> At some point I seemed to start coming to <…> I was already standing by the traffic police car <…> at that moment I had a memory lapse from the blows to the head <…> Yakutin took the handcuffs off Stepanov, a conversation began between us, during which Stepanov and I again explained in detail how we had ended up in that car, Yakutin replied that he had already realized we had nothing to do with it <…> After that the police officers let us go, we did not sign any reports or other documents. Whether Yakutin apologized to us or not, I don’t remember, at that moment my head and body hurt very badly”.

No one asked them for documents or their personal details. “The only thing was that Yakutin took Stepanov’s phone number to stay in touch; when I was already in hospital, Yakutin called Stepanov and asked how I was doing”.

They headed to Stepanov’s home, discussing how unjustifiably harsh the detention had been. They decided not to file a complaint, taking into account how difficult police work is; “at that time I didn’t know I had received such serious injuries”. They reached the apartment at about 2:00 a.m.; Stepanov treated the wounds on his face and head and stopped the bleeding, and they went to bed. They woke up and had breakfast at about 11:00 a.m.; by then he could barely see out of his left eye, and his head and body hurt badly. He took a taxi home and went to a clinic, where he was immediately told that he had a very serious head injury and was admitted to intensive care.

He has completely lost the sight in his left eye, his vision in the right eye has worsened, and he has problems with hearing in his right ear: “the hearing is still there, but the ear is constantly blocked”. He is under the care of an otolaryngologist.

Record of the additional examination of Krasnov dated April 16, 2026

He confirms his testimony; he has now seen the footage from the “Videopatrul” surveillance camera. He again describes the beating, also stating that after the 3 blows he tried to get up, but Yakutin swept his legs out from under him, and he fell from his own height, hitting the asphalt with his whole body and head. The second police officer (Misikov) did not touch him; the victim did not even speak to him.

Record of the on-site verification of Krasnov’s testimony dated May 23, 2026, and record of the confrontation between Krasnov and the defendant dated March 26, 2026

These largely duplicate the text of the record dated March 23, 2026. He does not confirm Yakutin’s testimony and stands by his own. “When Yakutin started pulling me out of the car, I immediately started telling him that I was a passenger and had nothing to do with the driver not stopping… to which Yakutin replied that I should shut up and he would figure everything out himself; his message was: first he’ll beat everyone up, then he’ll sort things out”.

The reading takes half an hour, and Krasnov remains standing the whole time; the court pays no attention to this and does not allow the victim to sit down.

The examination ends, and Krasnov confirms the testimony that was read out. Answering a question from the defendant’s lawyer, he says that when Yakutin pulled him out of the car, he did not tell him to lie down. Answering the judge’s question, he says he leaves the sentence to the court’s discretion.

The victim A.A. Stepanov, who works at the same LLC as Krasnov, is examined.

He describes the same events: they were returning from a business trip and took a taxi. The taxi driver ran a red light twice, and a traffic police car began chasing them. When the chase ended, “Artem and I saw that the officers had got out of their car, I immediately raised my hands above my head, Artem was sitting calmly”.

Krasnov was pulled out of the car first. Stepanov heard him being knocked down and kicked; he “didn’t turn around and didn’t see him being beaten, but sat straight, looking ahead, so as not to cause any discomfort for the officers detaining us”. Then the officer walked around the car, pulled Stepanov out by the scruff of the neck, and put him on his knees; he “kicked me a few times, once in the head and 2–3 times in the leg area <…> I put my arm up, blocked the blows, so I didn’t get any serious injuries, just bruises”. Most likely Artem had stood up at that moment, so Yakutin went back and continued over there. When things had calmed down a little, Stepanov dared to raise his head, saw Artem standing by the traffic police car, and also got up. He explained to Yakutin that they had not broken any rules. Yakutin cut him off, saying he would sort it out himself, but the victim kept talking, “at which point he got aggressive, came up to me again, roughly handcuffed me and pinned me against the car”. Then they discussed everything again and explained that they were not guilty of anything, and his handcuffs were removed. “So we agreed that we wouldn’t write anything, no complaints, nothing, we’d just leave quietly”.

He does not intend to file claims against Yakutin; after the verdict enters into force, a lawsuit will be filed against the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He believes the defendant should receive a severe sentence and refuses to accept the apology made that day.

The defense counsel asks several questions: about the officers’ orders to stop the car and who exactly gave them, and whether Yakutin ordered him to lie down after he was pulled out of the car and whether he heard such an order addressed to Krasnov. On the last point, he replies that he heard such an order addressed to himself but does not know whether it was also given to the other victim.

The state prosecutor likewise moves for the testimony of the victim Stepanov to be read out, because he “does not remember the exact location of the crime, namely the building”.

There are no objections; the motion is granted, and the case materials are read out.

Record of the examination of the victim Stepanov dated December 12, 2025:

“Yakutin opened the door, grabbed me by the shoulder, pulled me out of the car and put me on my knees, pushing my head down to the ground; I tried to say that we were not involved, Yakutin ordered me to be quiet and began kicking me in the torso; in total I received at least 3 blows: 2 to the torso and 1 to the head; I managed to put my hands up to protect myself and the blows landed on my arms”. Yakutin apologized, saying he realized they had nothing to do with it. “Krasnov and I looked at each other and decided that we were badly injured, we told Yakutin that we understood everything and would not report it anywhere”.

The investigator asked why they had filed a complaint against the traffic police officer if they had agreed not to. Stepanov replied that after the incident he was in shock, and when he had thought it all over, he realized it was wrong to conceal such injuries, especially since Yakutin was in intensive care: “I understand that anyone could have been in our place, including a child, so I believe it is necessary to put a stop to the unlawful conduct of the traffic police officer who inflicted bodily injuries on me and Krasnov without justification”.

The only new information in the other records is that the second officer, Misikov, did not touch them and did not even speak to them.

Stepanov confirms the testimony that was read out. At the victims’ request, the court releases them from the obligation to attend hearings until the closing arguments; there are no objections.

The hearing is adjourned so that witnesses can be summoned.