"Always wake up with a smile": how the legendary killer Lesha Soldier lives behind bars

The legendary killer Alexey Sherstobitov, while imprisoned in the Lipetsk colony, writes books, composes songs, once again got married and leads an active online life.

Sentenced to 23 years for the murders committed in the 90s, the killer of the famous Medvedkov group Alexey Sherstobitov does not lose his spirits and regularly shares his photos from the colony, supplementing them with philosophical quotes. His imprisonment in no way affected his love of life, but only made him a prolific writer and poet.

51-year-old Alexey Sherstobitov is serving a 23-year sentence in the Lipetsk colony for 12 contract murders committed in the 90s.

Fame came to Sherstobitov in the mid-noughties, after many years he successfully hid from justice. Interestingly, for a long time Sherstobitova was considered a fictional character, and his pseudonym – Lesha Soldier – was a collective image of a group of assassins.

Sherstobitov in 2002, 4 years before his arrest and trial.

His life changed dramatically after his arrest in 2006. Then he made a sensational confession about 12 contract killings of criminal authorities and businessmen, and as a result received 23 years of strict regime. But even in the colony he found something to do, starting to write poetry and prose. The starting point of his creative career behind bars was his autobiography "The Liquidator". After its release, Alexey continues to try himself in new genres, and just a few days ago his new book "The Demon on the Yavoni" was published.

But the famous killer did not stop at these achievements. Now he is learning a "new craft" — he became active in networking right from the Lipetsk colony: Sherstobitov's accounts were found in almost all social networks. The shocking prisoner arouses great interest of users. On the web, he shares some of the features of his stay in prison and advises readers to start every day with a smile.

A photo from an Instagram account that has already been deleted from the network.

The famous prisoner supplied the pictures with philosophical quotes like this:

Lesha Soldat has an official website, a VKontakte group dedicated to his life, and a fairly popular YouTube channel. However, the most interesting news about Sherstobitov until recently could be found from Istagram. The account, which was recently deleted when it was made public in the media, was led by the killer's current wife, Marina. By the way, their love story surprised the world back in June 2016, when they registered their marriage.

Sherstobitov and his fiancee Marina, a psychiatrist who worked as a forensic expert in the past.

The genius of disguise met his future wife, Marina Sosnenko, a 33-year-old psychiatrist from St. Petersburg, by correspondence. Previously, the spectacular brunette was married to the famous actor Sergei Druzhko. Letter by letter, Alexey and Marina got to know each other better and eventually decided to get married. The ceremony itself, carefully coordinated with the administration of the colony, lasted only about 15 minutes. And from the photo gallery of the official website of the crime writer, it became known that the young also sanctified the bonds of marriage with a wedding.

The marriage registration procedure was carried out in the office of the deputy. the head of the ITK. For this purpose, a registry office employee was specially invited. Among the few invited were only the closest relatives and friends of the newlyweds – the sisters of Lyosha the Soldier, childhood friends of both spouses and the killer's lawyer. After the wedding, the young, as legal spouses, received permission for a long date. Also, on the occasion of the wedding, the prison authorities allowed a photo session to be held. The newlyweds posed in costumes of American gangsters of the prohibition period.

Despite the fact that many events from his personal life have become public, Alexey continues to be a man of mystery. In many ways, this is facilitated by his past life, many situations from which have not yet been voiced. Only sometimes Sherstobitov opens this curtain of mystery, telling about the vicissitudes of the 90s.

Criminal authority, founder of the Athletes of Russia party Otari Kvantrishvili.

One of his most high-profile statements was his confession to the murder of Otari Kvarntrishvili in 1994. It was this resonant case that caused a storm of emotions among others and made Lesha the Soldier realize anew how slippery his killer's path became after this order.

Boris Berezovsky after the assassination attempt in 1994

But the most difficult target, according to Sherstobitov, was Boris Berezovsky. The oligarch was in his sights in the same 1994. The reason for "this meeting" was the disputed 100 thousand dollars between a well-known criminal authority and a businessman. After Berezovsky survived the explosion of his car, Alexey was ordered to finish him off. But just a few seconds before completing the task, the killer found out that the decision to liquidate had been canceled.

Alexey was detained in early 2006, at a time when he had already retired. The law enforcement agencies found out about the existence of Sherstobitov only in 2003, when the leaders of the Orekhovo-Medvedkovsky organized criminal groups were arrested. One of them wrote a sincere confession, where he "leaked" his killer for the first time. Ordinary militants talked during interrogations about a certain "Lesha-Soldier", but no one knew his last name or what he looked like. Investigators believed that "Lesha the Soldier" was a kind of mythical collective image. Sherstobitov himself was extremely careful: he did not communicate with ordinary bandits, did not participate in their gatherings. He was a master of conspiracy and reincarnation: when going to work, he always used wigs, fake beards or mustaches. Sherstobitov did not leave fingerprints at the crime scene, there were no witnesses.

Sherstobitov on trial in 2006.

In 2005, one of the leaders of the Kurgan organized criminal group, Andrei Koligov (she was connected with the Orekhovskaya and Medvedkovsky organized criminal groups), who was serving a long term, unexpectedly summoned investigators to him and said that a certain killer at one time beat off his girlfriend (it was Irina). It was through her that the detectives found Sherstobitov, who was detained in early 2006 when he came to the Botkin hospital to visit his father. During a search of Sherstobitov's rented apartment in Mytishchi, detectives found several pistols and submachine guns.

Recall that while serving his sentence, Sherstobitov wrote 11 books on criminal subjects. The controversial literary value of the works does not interfere with the popularity of the writer. Readers note the usefulness of books in cognitive terms. After all, the events of those years are still fresh in my memory. While awaiting sentencing, Alexey Shestorbitov wrote a cycle of poems dedicated to the themes of repentance and death.

Everything that I want to say to the outside world today, the ex-killer pours out with the help of creativity. He tries to remember his "past sins" as little as possible and is optimistic about the future.