Zenit St. Petersburg star Andrei Mostovoy narrowly escaped an attempted kidnapping outside a grocery store on Krestovsky Island, St. Petersburg, on October 24. The 27-year-old Russian international footballer was targeted by three masked men who tried to drag him into a minibus near his Mercedes G-Wagon.
Mostovoy was saved thanks to his friend, former youth hockey player Alexander Grakun, who intervened and physically overpowered the attackers. Mostovoy then ran into a nearby wooded area before the assailants could regroup, later filing a police report about the incident.
Grakun’s mother, Natalya, told KP-Petersburg: “Sasha assessed the situation in a split second, overpowered the kidnappers, and they fled in shock. Andrei was able to escape deftly.”
Mostovoy, in a video interview with Fontanka, said he was shaken by the incident and had difficulty sleeping afterward. Despite the scare, he quickly returned to training and scored a crucial equalizer in Zenit’s 2-1 victory over Dynamo Moscow that weekend.
Two days after Mostovoy’s near-abduction, the same group reportedly attempted to abduct Sergei Selegen, son-in-law of State Duma lawmaker Vyacheslav Makarov. Selegen was freed after police tracked a Toyota Land Cruiser, detaining four suspects. A fifth suspect was later arrested.
Authorities stated that the suspects claimed they believed the kidnappings were a “birthday prank,” and one alleged that the mastermind was “not from Russia.” The detained individuals now face criminal charges, including kidnapping, robbery, and attempted kidnapping. The St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that the suspects are in custody awaiting pretrial detention following a coordinated operation involving the Investigative Committee of Russia, the FSB, and local police.
