Nikita Dzhigurda’s close friend Lyudmila Bratash passed away more than two years ago. On the ill-fated day, February 15, Lyudmila Bratash’s security guard and driver found her dead in her apartment. There were empty wine bottles around - Bratash had problems with alcohol in the last years of her life. Doctors named the official cause of death as a severed blood clot. At the time of her death, the businesswoman was 56 years old.
The businesswoman bequeathed the entire inheritance, consisting of luxury real estate in the capital and France and bank accounts, to the family of Nikita Dzhigurda. Dzhigurda, in turn, suspected that Lyudmila’s death was not accidental, and Bratash’s sister Svetlana Romanova was directly related to this. However, for a long time, the words of the outrageous actor remained his assumption. Now Nikita Borisovich has proof in his hands that Bratash became the victim of an attacker.
“The position of the victim and the attacker at the time of the blow could have been any convenient for their infliction. Bratash Lyudmila Jonathanovna, 56 years old. Death occurred from a traumatic brain injury, accompanied by fractures of the bones of the base of the skull,” the death report noted.
“Based on the nature of Lyudmila Bratash’s injuries, which consist of bruises on the face, hematomas on the temple, lacerations and bruises, hard bruises in the chest area and other parts of the body; this indicates that her death could only have been of a criminal, violent nature,” the lawyer added in Channel Five’s “Gossip Chronicle” program.
Despite this, a criminal case has not yet been opened, and Dzhigurda is extremely surprised why this happened. According to Nikita Borisovich, the day before the death of Lyudmila Bratash, her driver Oleg Kuronov came to her with his wife and other people. At the same time, Bratash was always afraid of Kuronov and even wrote a statement against him to the police several times. The man is protected by Svetlana Romanova, who, according to Dzhigurda, is also interested in receiving a multimillion-dollar inheritance from her relative.
Let us remind you that the outrageous actor has very little left to receive his inheritance. The actor already knows what he will do after this. He will not just organize a holiday, but will remarry his ex-wife Marina Anisina, whom he divorced two years ago after eight years of marriage. Apparently, the difficult situation has brought the couple together, and harmony and mutual understanding reign again in their personal lives.
“Our wedding with Marina will be the apotheosis of victory in this difficult matter. We plan to hold the celebration at the end of November, perhaps closer to the New Year. Everything will depend on how the courts end and when we receive the inheritance,” Nikita told StarHit about a month and a half ago.
: shaved off his beard, changed his hair color and seemed to look 20 years younger. And all because he decided, in his words, to “merge with the crowd.”
“I used to stand out with my appearance,” Dzhigurda explained to Komsomolskaya Pravda, “but now I’m tired of shocking behavior. I want to live an ordinary life!
However, Dzhigurda’s ordinariness is like the moon. Consider, for example, his statement that he is changing his last name to a new one - Janatan El-Air Bratash Ji Pogorzelsky von Gan Eden. Bratash - in honor of a friend who died in February of this year and left her fortune to the artist. This scandalous story is reminiscent of a detective story: the mysterious death of a rich lonely lady, an 800-million-dollar inheritance that fell on Dzhigurda, and a battle for the right to own wealth. But first things first.
Rich girlfriend
The name of Lyudmila Bratash was well known in the field of Russian VIP air transportation, in which she, a native of Belarus, made a dizzying career. In the early 80s, Lyudmila worked in the press center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But I dreamed of finding a job related to the sky. Her father was a military man and often took his daughter with him to the airfield. When perestroika struck, Bratash came up with and launched her own business - she opened the elite air transportation company Al Air.
“The specificity of our business is that we do not need to buy aircraft. It's expensive and pointless. It is necessary to rent cars from the owners and properly organize the flight system and service in the air. That’s all,” Bratash told Expert magazine in 2003. During the crisis, she baked pancakes herself at night to bring them to the morning flight and serve them with caviar to her VIP clients on board the plane.
But this was at first, and then the business began to bring good dividends, and Lyudmila could only control the established service.
Luda even personally selected flight attendants for her company - the most beautiful models worked for her, ready to provide any services to passengers, among whom were oil magnates and oligarchs. They called Lyuda at any time of the day with a request to prepare a plane for them, - Alexey Korostelev, an acquaintance of Lyudmila Bratash, told KP. - Luda had a cheerful disposition, loved sports and travel. She looked good, knew how to make an impression, carry on a conversation, and always, as they say, had her finger on the pulse.
It was the Bratash company that took the Russian elite to Courchevel, says another friend of Lyudmila, restaurateur Victoria Lazich. - Politicians, bankers, and entrepreneurs used the services of her company. This woman made herself - she earned capital with her labor and brains. I bought an apartment in Paris, had luxury housing in Moscow, a dacha, and a personal driver. Only my personal life didn’t work out.
According to friends, the 56-year-old businesswoman has never been married, and her stories about her ex-pilot husband are fiction for the sake of a beautiful legend.
- How long have you known Lyudmila Bratash?- “KP” asked Nikita Dzhigurda himself.
A hundred years! First, my wife Marina Anisina met Lyusya, then she introduced me. Lucy became our son's godmother. We were friends...
Bratash often left Russia for her apartment in Paris. Anisina also often visits France: she is engaged in coaching, teaching figure skaters. That's where the women met. We met often and went on vacation together. The press wrote that the wedding of Dzhigurda and Anisina was celebrated at Villa Bratash. But not everything was so rosy.
The machinations of the green serpent
Friends say: in recent years, Bratash has become addicted to drinking. Perhaps because she lost her business - her company went bankrupt. Lyudmila lived alone and, they say, was unhappy. Of her relatives, only her younger sister Svetlana Romanova lives in Belarus, and rarely visits Moscow.
At the beginning of this year, Svetlana wrote a statement to the Moscow police: her sister, Lyudmila Bratash, has disappeared! After the New Year holidays, the woman could not find Lyudmila - the phones were not answered.
What happened? Bratash gave the following explanation to the police (from the audit material):
“...Dzhigurda N.B. came to visit me in the evening on December 31, 2015. We have known each other for a long time, I am the godmother of his children. We celebrated the New Year on 01/01/16. I began to feel unwell, which may be due to alcohol abuse. Dzhigurda N.B. took me to his home in the Moscow region, the village of Zhukovo, to take care of me. I called a doctor who gave me IVs to get me out of my drunken state. Since my health was not improving, we decided to hospitalize me. On 01/03/16 in the evening, Dzhigurda took me to Dr. Fedorova’s clinic, located in the Moscow region, the village of Znamenskoye. I ask you not to carry out an investigation on the application of my sister Romanova S.D., since I have not disappeared anywhere, no illegal actions have been committed against me.
01/08/2016.”
It is possible that Lyudmila liked Dzhigurda not only as a friend, but also as a man, says Victoria Lazich. - Lyudmila was amorous, and Dzhigurda, of course, is a charismatic person, is interested in esoteric sciences and can impress women. If Lyudmila was in love with Dzhigurda, then it is quite logical that she wrote a will for him.
Missing Jewels
Lyudmila Bratash’s driver, Dmitry Kuronov, turned out to be more harsh in his statements. The man worked for the businesswoman for more than 20 years. Married, has children. In one of the TV shows, Dmitry voiced his version of the events of Lyudmila’s last New Year’s Eve. According to him, then jewelry worth 600 thousand euros disappeared from Bratash’s apartment. The man assures that on New Year’s Eve Dzhigurda was visiting Lyudmila for a reason.
“I think he just poured it out for her, he was celebrating alone,” said Dmitry. - I was probably “celebrating” around the apartment... I was rummaging around, looking for something. Her safe was opened and completely emptied. I discovered this loss on January 1st. In the evening, somewhere around ten, the security guard (at home - Ed.) calls me and says: “Lucy is being taken away.” I break down and go there, go up to the apartment, I had my own key, I open the apartment, and there is unnatural cleanliness, there are some candles, not Lyudmilina’s. I decided to check the safe; I had a spare key. I opened the safe and it was completely empty. I started calling Marina Anisina, Lyusya, Dzhigurda. No one answered the phone, and then the phones were blocked.”
Surveillance cameras filmed how Dzhigurda’s assistant carried out several bags on January 1 and loaded them into the trunk of a car. Then the artist and his assistant took Lyudmila Bratash out by the arms, put her in the car and drove away.
I didn’t take anything out of Lucy’s apartment, but her driver and sister may well be involved in the disappearance of the jewelry,” Nikita Dzhigurda told KP. - Lucy noticed the loss of things while she was still alive and wrote about it to the police. She was sure that her sister and the driver were stealing from her. The police took no action. My sister and the driver knew that during her lifetime Lyusya had written a will for me and Anisin, and this angered them.
The name of Lyudmila Bratash was well known in the field of Russian VIP air transportation. Photo: Facebook
"I'm being threatened"
On February 15, Lyudmila was found dead in her apartment by driver Dmitry Kuronov. He says that he suspected something was wrong because Bratash did not answer calls. Dmitry arrived and opened the door with his key. Lyudmila was lying dead on the floor, empty bottles were lying nearby. Doctors came to the conclusion that death was due to a detached blood clot. But Dzhigurda is sure: not everything is so simple.
It was a violent death! - the artist told KP when we called him in the USA. (The conversation took place either by phone or due to communication failures via SMS). - There were numerous bruises on Lucy’s body, she could not have inflicted them on herself! This conclusion is in the file (an investigation into the woman’s death is underway. - Ed.).
Nikita believes her sister and driver were involved in the death of her friend. The artist publicly stated that they deliberately drugged Lyudmila with alcohol in order to appropriate her inheritance.
What do you think I'm doing in America now? - Dzhigurda suddenly asked a question.
- Did you fly away because you fear for your life?
Yes! I receive threats.
- Is your wife with you now?
No. She is in France, training figure skaters.
Dzhigurda said that he left for the USA not only because of threats. In New York, he intends to receive official confirmation of Bratash’s will, executed here, which will be required for the Moscow court.
The will was not recognized
Lyudmila was left with several apartments, a dacha, securities, as well as monetary assets - the total amount of the inheritance is 800 million rubles. The will itself was executed in the USA back in 2010. There Lyudmila and the Dzhigurda family rested together. According to the showman, even then the woman was afraid of the driver and sister, and therefore took care of the inheritance in advance.
True, an unexpected obstacle arose on Dzhigurda’s path to the treasured millions. The Russian notary rejected the American will presented by the artist because it “does not meet the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation in form and content.”
Dzhigurda is going to challenge this decision in court. In addition, he filed a lawsuit against Svetlana Romanova in the Kuntsevo Court of Moscow, believing that she has no right to claim her sister’s inheritance. In response, Romanova filed her own claim to have the will declared invalid.
This whole story with the death of Lyudmila Bratash looks ugly, says Victoria Lazich. - Alas, when single rich women die, bad fuss inevitably arises around the inheritance. This was the case with the inheritance of Zykina, and Juna, and many others. In my opinion, so far none of the disputing parties looks convincing and flawless.
DIRECT SPEECH
Lyudmila Bratash's driver Dmitry KURONOV:
Men only wanted money from her
- Dmitry, we saw Bratash’s statement that you allegedly gave her pills that made her feel sick...
Lord, what do you believe in?! These are all Dzhigurda’s fantasies. He dictated to her. Lyusya was in an inadequate state when she wrote. And the date has been corrected there. This drunken nonsense should not be taken seriously. I didn't give her any pills.
- If this is Dzhigurda’s fantasy, why did he need it?
To compromise me. On the basis of this note, I was then not allowed to go to “Ostrov” (the territory of the complex on Ostrovny Proezd, where Lyudmila lived. - Ed.). Dzhigurda jumped with this note and demanded that I not be allowed into the territory. And I was removed from the list. I then actually lost my job. Then Lucy turned on her brain and realized what had happened. She told me: “Go back to work.” And again I began to work for her.
- But her company collapsed!
Well, I worked for her as a personal driver, and as a personal bodyguard, and whatever else.
- Why did you have the keys to her safe?
I didn't have the key to the safe. I knew where the spare one was in her apartment.
- But did you have the key to the apartment itself?
I always had, for about 15 years, keys to all her apartments. She trusted me completely.
- If you were her driver until recently, why does Lyudmila write about you as “former driver”?
I repeat: in a drunken, inadequate state, she could write anything under Dzhigurda’s pressure. Let's start with the fact that Lyudmila was a journalist in her youth. She treated the letter very carefully. And for Lucy to write something as stupid as in these notes! Firstly, she always wrote my first name and patronymic. She would not have written “Dmitry Kuronov”. She treated all people with respect. And I always wrote my first and patronymic names in documents.
“Were you around her because you were doing your job, and not because you felt sorry for her?”
And I regretted it too. How many times have we offered her treatment? Her friends also invited her to Germany for treatment. Everyone knew, God, that she was drinking, but no one lifted a finger. They'll talk - that's all. What could I do alone? You start to tell her something, she: “Okay, that’s it, I’m free.” I’m at the door and she immediately calls: everything is brought to her instantly. The next day I come to work - Lucy is no good. There is no cure for female alcoholism.
How long ago did this start for her?
I think about ten years ago she already began to apply herself so seriously. From loneliness. She had many suitors over the years that I worked for her, more than 20 years. But most often they needed her money, her fortune. Out of love, she had a Frenchman alone for a very long time, she lived with him.
-And then they broke up?
The Frenchman was also tired of her feasts.
- Did you have a purely business relationship with her?
Not just business ones. Most likely family ones too. She loved my children. My wife constantly went to see her. She bought us a dog after we put ours to sleep. And my children were like family to her. She treated my children and my wife very warmly. Moreover, she loved her dogs very much. When my wife came to see her and the dogs licked her, for Lucy it was a sign: she was a kind person. When Lucy flew away somewhere, she left her dogs with us.
- They say you had an affair with her.
No, I didn’t allow myself to do that.
- In one of the notes Lyudmila writes “cleaning lady in Paris.” What does it mean?
What kind of word is this “cleaner”, Lord! This word is not from her vocabulary! She had an assistant in Paris - Marina. Lyudmila trusted her for many years. Lucy treated her well. She never said a bad word about her.
- How do you feel about Dzhigurda?
I never loved him. Lyudmila hated him too. Her fate turned out this way - she loved his children and Marinka Anisina.
COMPETENTLY
“Wrote by an unhealthy person”
We showed Lyudmila Bratash's notes graphologist and handwriting expert Sergei Sergeev, asking him in what condition the person who wrote them was.
I see suicidal signs in the manner of writing,” the expert told KP. - The person who wrote this did not commit suicide, did he? But he seemed to be on the verge. The notes show that their author is losing control of himself, is in an unfavorable state and is under great stress. Judging by the handwriting, the person’s life adaptation is reduced: there are very large distances between the lines. It is as if the person is in the stratosphere, and not in reality. The direction of the lines - they either fall or rise - indicates hysteria and mania. I won’t say that this is already a mental disorder, but rather one of the symptoms. But I won’t dare to say that he was inadequate; such a diagnosis is made by a psychiatrist.
Lyudmila Bratash was seriously hurt when she fell, and there was no one to help her
Recently it became known about the mysterious death of the once successful businesswoman 56-year-old Lyudmila Bratash. The owner of the private luxury air transportation company Al Aire was found in her 5-room apartment in the west of the capital. Bruises and abrasions were found on the businesswoman’s body.
The deceased was a close friend of Nikita Dzhigurda and Marina Anisina, and was the godmother of their eldest son.
Upon learning of the woman’s death, the actor made a loud statement, blaming her driver Dmitry for the death of Bratash. According to him, the 50-year-old man was going to fictitiously marry Lyudmila, tortured her, and injected her with drugs. Dzhigurda also claimed that all the money, jewelry and the will left in the name of his children disappeared from the businesswoman’s apartment.
MK decided to look into this story.
Lyudmila Bratash took the Russian elite to Courchevel and loved to relax there herself.
The body of Lyudmila Bratash was found on February 15 in an apartment in an elite residential complex in Ostrovny Proezd.
The lady's personal driver, Dmitry, called the police - the man and the security guard came to check on the owner, since she had not been in touch for a while. Security opened the door with his key. Dead Bratash lay in the room surrounded by empty bottles of wine.
The local police officer explained that he was called to the place at 12.00 to examine the body. A forensic expert was already in the apartment - he recorded an old abrasion on the chin and a head injury (typical of a fall from a height).
According to the expert's conclusions, Bratash suffered a blood clot. However, the final results of the causes of death will be announced in 30 days. But most likely, Bratash passed away on her own. The security guard confirmed that the woman had been drinking alcohol for more than a month, which could have affected her health.
Human rights activists managed to contact the driver, businesswoman Dmitry Kuronov, whom Nikita Dzhigurda hastened to accuse of almost murder.
In the interests of the investigation, I am not disclosing information. One thing I will say is that the prosecutor and the court make the charges, but not Dzhigurda.
By the way, Dmitry is officially married and has two daughters. He has been working as a driver for more than 15 years. Neighbors speak positively of him. The only thing they remember is an episode a month ago when Dmitry, being extremely drunk, asked for a loan of 100 rubles. This surprised the residents, since previously they had not noticed the Muscovite being partial to Bacchus.
As the senior assistant to the head of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for Moscow told MK, a pre-investigation check is being carried out on this fact.
Who is Lyudmila Bratash? MK veterans remembered her: a long time ago, back in the 80s, Lyuda was published several times in our newspaper. She wrote about music, in particular about the group “Gorky Park”. And then she changed her life dramatically. First I went to the press center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But even then she was dreaming of the sky: her father, a retired military man, often took her with him to the airfield. And in the end, just a lady turned into a businesswoman, becoming a pioneer of VIP aviation.
“The specificity of our business is that we do not need to buy aircraft. It's expensive and pointless. It is necessary to rent cars from the owners and properly organize the flight system and service in the air. That’s all,” Bratash said in 2003 in an interview with Expert magazine. I remembered how I negotiated with gas stations during the fuel crisis, how I baked pancakes in my kitchen at night in order to be on time for the flight in the morning and deliver them for breakfast with caviar to my wealthy clients. However, by the time the interview was published, all this was already in the past: oil tycoons, bankers and politicians, and prime ministers flew on her planes. The owner of Al Air is the only woman in Russia who has succeeded in this exclusive business.
After that interview, we continued our communication with Lyudmila,” says one of the authors of the material, Mumin Shakirov. - The last time we met was three years ago in her luxurious apartment. She looked great. I didn't notice any changes. I wrote a book about self-made women. One of my heroines was Lyudmila. She was well known in business aviation; oligarchs and billionaires, with whom she was on first name terms, personally called her and asked her to organize a flight. Judge for yourself, she was the only one who managed to send flights without prepayment if the client did not have time to pay for the flight in advance. This shows that she was trusted.
- Why doesn’t the Federal Air Transport Agency know anything about her airline?
She didn’t have her own fleet; she rented planes. Her main task is the ability to negotiate with clients, operators, and organize a flight. And she did it brilliantly.
We contacted other acquaintances of Bratash.
The last time I saw Lyudmila was 10-15 years ago,” recalls a friend of the deceased. “Then she found me on Facebook. We only communicated with her about stray dogs - Luda felt sorry for the animals. She said that she often visits Greece and invited her to go on vacation with her. One got the feeling that she was ready to invite anyone on the trip with her. Apparently she needed communication. She also said that she was friends with Marina Anisina. She complained that it was not so and could not give birth to a child. I got myself two dogs. There were rumors that she had an affair with some musician. There were many men around her, but her personal life never worked out.
And here’s what another friend of Lyudmila Bratash remembers.
On Friday, Lyudmila was buried at the Khavanskoye cemetery. Her close friends weren't even told about it. The funeral seemed to be handled by Dzhigurda and his wife. Marina Anisina did not call anyone or notify anyone of farewell. We don’t know whether Lyuda’s relatives from Belarus managed to arrive. After all, her sister and nephews live in Minsk, with whom Lyuda had a warm relationship.
- How did she become friends with the Anisin-Dzhigurda couple?
Most likely, Lyudmila first met Anisina in Paris. Bratash lived there for some time. They became closer. Luda baptized one of the children of the star couple. They even went on vacation together. By the way, the wedding of Dzhigurda and Anisin took place at the luxurious Bratash hacienda. I wouldn't be surprised if it's at her expense. Then Lyudmila sold this hacienda and bought another. Some time ago, Bratash had a mini-stroke. For some reason Anisina took her to her home. Luda was not admitted to the hospital. Isn't it strange?
- On the eve of the funeral, Nikita Dzhigurda blamed her driver for the death of the businesswoman...
Nikita decided to make himself a loud one, but this time it was very cheap and dishonest. With his assumptions, he insulted the man who was with Lyuda until the very end and pulled her out of various troubles.
- What do you have in mind?
All of Lyuda’s acquaintances knew that she had been drinking heavily lately. While drunk, I couldn’t control myself, I couldn’t stand on my feet well, hence the bruises on my body. Only the driver could tolerate her drunken antics. Perhaps this man was the most devoted in her circle.
- Bratash had an apartment in Paris, apartments in Moscow. Did men help her?
She bought everything for herself and an apartment in Paris. She never had rich sponsors. She herself is from Belarus, but she has developed very successfully here. Consider yourself lucky. Luda has never been married (in an interview with Expert, Bratash said that she was married for the second time to a French pilot - author's note). She does not have kids. Men deceived her, took advantage of her position, money, and then disappeared. In essence, she was a rich but unhappy woman.
- How long has it been since you last talked to her?
I stopped communicating with her a year ago because I don’t like drunken promises.
How can an alcoholic run an airline?
Don't you know? There has been no company for a long time. Everything is sold. Lately there have been no men or work in her life. But once she organized private flights for deputies and oligarchs. Remember the noisy trips of our millionaires to Courchevel? So, basically, they flew there on its sides. Here is such a bright life and a terrible lonely death.
Dmitry Kuronov: “Lusya copied all the collected information - bank statements, video camera footage - onto a flash drive and gave it to me.”
The scandal surrounding the millions and real estate of businesswoman Lyudmila Bratash continues. Nikita Dzhigurda intends to confirm his rights to her inheritance in court. The showman blames her driver for the death of Bratash. We spoke with the driver of the deceased, Dmitry Kuronov, and his wife to find out their version of the mysterious events.
Nikita Dzhigurda.
The death of 56-year-old businesswoman Lyudmila Bratash could easily get lost in the news reports. The woman died on February 14, 2016. Forensic experts concluded - traumatic brain injury. And they explained: a fall from one’s own height. Nothing supernatural. In recent years, Bratash has been drinking heavily. Due to the lack of criminal charges, they did not initiate a case.
The banal story would hardly have continued if Nikita Dzhigurda had not appeared in the story. After the death of the once successful lady, the actor burst into confession. He stated that Bratash was his son’s godmother and his closest family friend, and bequeathed her entire multimillion-dollar fortune to him. Further more.
Dzhigurda believes that it was not alcohol that killed Lyudmila Bratash; the woman could have been killed by her personal driver Dmitry. The actor also blames his girlfriend and her sister for the death. The showman put forward different versions: “the driver was going to marry her,” “he wanted to take possession of Bratash’s fortune,” “all the most valuable things from her safe were missing,” “the will was stolen.” His words would hardly have been given due attention if Dzhigurda had not appeared in court with a will allegedly drawn up by the deceased. It says that the entire Bratash inheritance goes to Nikita Dzhigurda. Now the actor intends to seek the movable and immovable property of Lyudmila Bratash through the court.
Lyudmila Bratash.
We met with the same driver, the late Dmitry, and his wife Liana. These people presented their version of the tragic events.
To understand who Lyudmila Bratash is, you need to rewind the time film. About 20 years ago. Dashing 90s. It was then that Lyudmila Bratash made a dizzying career. A woman rose to the occasion when she founded a private luxury air travel company. Everything acquired through backbreaking labor is just from the past. Bratash's clients included Boris Berezovsky, Roman Abramovich, famous bankers, businessmen, oil workers, famous artists, and presidents of different countries. Over many years of work, Lyudmila has amassed a decent amount of capital.
The 2000s made their own adjustments. Oligarchs began to buy their own yachts and planes. And they no longer needed Bratash’s services.
The once successful businesswoman found herself out of work. Lyudmila was thrown overboard from a luxurious life. But Bratash knew how to count money. That’s why I didn’t throw everything I had accumulated down the drain. The woman invested in real estate - she bought three luxury apartments in Moscow and one in Paris, bought jewelry, and deposited part of the funds in banks at interest. Provided myself with a financial cushion for a rainy day. It seemed like she had everything figured out. She couldn’t calculate one thing, that a dark day would come for her much earlier than she could have imagined.
“Many of Marina Anisina’s circle did not understand her choice. Perhaps Nikita had some influence on her.”
“Lucy felt sorry for Anisina, that’s why she helped her family”
We met with Dmitry Kuronov and his wife Liana in their apartment. An ordinary five-story building, far from being in the very central area of Moscow. The decor is spartan. Treats include instant coffee, marshmallows, gingerbread, cigarettes.
Look at how people live who, as Dzhigurda claims, stole the deceased’s millions,” Dmitry laughs. - I'm unemployed now. Who thought that Lucy would pass away so quickly, and that I, in turn, would lose my job so soon. I didn’t really have time to save anything. I haven’t gotten a job in the last 8 months.
- The case was closed, right?
After the fuss that Dzhigurda raised, inspections resumed. Do you think the case was closed quickly? No matter how it is. The investigation lasted a long time. At first they thought that Lyudmila could really have been killed by thieves for profit. But these assumptions are shallow. Bratash lived in an elite area, the yard was guarded, there was a permit system. Strangers did not get inside.
- As far as I understand, you are the first person to find Bratash dead in the apartment? Were you the one who called the police?
Yes, on February 15 I came to Lyudmila. It was my first working day of the week. She usually opened the door when I arrived. This time the door was locked. I called. No one answered. I went down to the security guard and asked if Bratash had left the house. Then we called the shift supervisor and called the HOA superintendent. I had spare keys to her apartment in my car. But I hardly used them. This time I took the keys, we opened the door and saw the body. They called an ambulance, a local police officer and the police. The investigation team arrived, and it began...
Nikita Dzhigurda beats himself on the chest, claims that he was the closest person to the deceased. How close were they?
Dmitriy:“Maybe he considered himself one, only for the last two years he did not appear in her life.” I admit that Lyusya called Marina Anisina, but not Dzhigurda. I was with Lyusya all the time, she shared everything with me. I'll tell you one story. In 2014, trouble happened to Lyusya. She broke her leg. She was operated on. My wife brought home-cooked food to the Lyuse clinic every day. I carried her in a wheelchair for six months because she refused to develop her leg. Then we nursed her at home. I took her to bandages and massages. During the entire time that Lyusya was being treated, Dzhigurda never visited her, did not call, or inquired about her health. Anisina dropped into the hospital once for 5 minutes. Nikita appeared at Lyudmila’s house a few months before her death.
Lyudmila Bratash started drinking out of loneliness.
- How did Lyudmila Bratash even meet Dzhigurda?
Dmitry's wife, Liana, joins the conversation: - Lyudmila at one time lived in France, where she ran an air transportation business. I bought myself an apartment in Paris. At some event she met Marina Anisina. The girls became friends. There was no trace of Dzhigurda then. Then Anisina began to come to Russia more and more often, and on a television project she met Dzhigurda. Love-carrot spun. We decided to get married. But there wasn’t much money. And they have not yet acquired their own housing. Then Lyusya offered them her country house in Novakhov, a village between Rublyovka and New Riga, for their wedding celebration. Later, Anisina and Dzhigurda often used this house. For example, all the filming that Marina did in Moscow at that time took place in Lucy’s house. This is how Dzhigurda began to enter the Bratash house.
- Did Bratash often help the Dzhigurda-Anisin couple?
Often. When Anisina sold her house in France, Lyusya helped them look for an apartment in Moscow. They communicated closely at one time. Lucy even went on vacation with them to Turkey. In January 2014, Dzhigurda shared with Lyusya that he was going to go to the Maidan, but for this he needed money. I asked Bratash. She refused: “I don’t play such games.” According to Bratash, Nikita often asked her for money for his projects. And a couple of years ago, Marina and Nikita turned to Lyusa again. Marina asked Lucy for 250 thousand euros to buy real estate in Greece. She also begged to be her guarantor at a bank in France. Bratash was afraid of loans, so she did not meet them halfway. They seem to have bought the property. Lucina, a good friend in Greece, the owner of a real estate company, helped them. I don’t presume to say, but it seems they never paid for the apartment in full.
- Why did Bratash help them if she was not confident in these people?
Lyusya felt sorry for Anisin. After all, the circle of her acquaintances never accepted Dzhigurda. Many of Marina’s circle did not understand her choice. Moreover, there were plenty of contenders for her hand and heart. Perhaps Nikita had some influence on her. I only heard him coming and constantly shouting to her: “Kuma. Kuma..."
- Was Lyudmila generous?
Not to say that Lucy was very generous, but she supported her close people. How many times did she tell me: “Go to France, relax there. You will live in my house, I will provide you with everything.” But I always kept my distance. Understand, we are ordinary people, it is inconvenient for us to use other people's benefits. Although she and I became friends.
Dmitriy:- We have two daughters, so Lucy constantly repeated: “Let the girls choose any place on the world map and go, I will pay for everything.” I’ve been communicating with Bratash for more than 20 years. During this time we managed to practically become close. But nevertheless, I always respected the chain of command. In public he called her by her first name and patronymic. Lucy really helped people a lot. For example, she paid for her employee to give birth in an expensive clinic, and helped another employee buy an apartment. She did not refuse if her friends needed something. And it goes a long way, she paid for my hip replacement surgery.
- Was Bratash really as rich as they say? Or are these already legends?
Dmitriy:- Lucy had her own airline for private transportation. She rented planes from the Cosmos company that transported astronauts. These planes were no longer flying much at that time, and they were parked on the airport grounds. Lucy suggested extending the life of the liners. At my own expense, I converted the interiors of ordinary Tues into VIP ones. And its planes began to be in great demand.
Liana:- Lyusya told me that Berezovsky used her planes to take prisoners out of Chechnya. The private airline Bratash did not stand idle even for a day. Lucy worked around the clock. Well, she made a very decent capital.
Lyudmila Bratash (right) once owned a private air transportation company.
“Men used her and betrayed her”
- It is known that Lyudmila Bratash drank. When did she start drinking?
Dmitriy:- Lucy has been drinking heavily for the last ten years. At first her business began to fade away. But with her money and brains it was possible to exist comfortably until old age. And open a new business. But she said: “I can’t run my own airline anymore, and I don’t want to do anything small.” It seems to me that she started drinking out of loneliness. She was an interesting woman, there were a lot of men hanging around her, but everyone wanted to get something out of her, she didn’t feel any love for herself.
- Did no one have feelings for her?
She had a man, a Frenchman, Philippe. I know him well, we still communicate. She loved him. And he is hers. They could have had a family, but Philip left her. He was tired of her endless feasts. I personally took her to restaurants and buffets. Lyusya was always the last customer after whom the restaurant was closed. She had binges. One day she flew in from France and I met her at the airport. So she could not walk to the car on her own feet. She was carried on a trolley by airport staff. And there are plenty of such stories. After all, all her friends turned away from her precisely for this reason. Lucy didn't know how to drink much. And the drunken Bratash was not the most amiable interlocutor.
Liana:“You wouldn’t wish as much betrayal as Lucy endured on your enemy.” She was going through a breakup with Philip. She cried that he betrayed her and abandoned her. Everyone betrayed her. But she crossed out those people who betrayed her from her life. About 20 years ago she was robbed - money and jewelry were stolen from her safe. She then had an apartment on Kutuzovskaya. Lucy knew the girl who cleaned her out. But she did not write a statement to the police. I felt sorry for her children. But she immediately stopped communicating with that madam.
- Why didn’t Bratash give birth?
Liana:- Lucy wanted children, but apparently it didn’t work out. One day she showed me a photograph of two girls. They were 7–8 years old. She looked after them at the boarding school. I thought about adopting. For what reason I changed my mind, I don’t know. The absence of children is another personal tragedy for Bratash. But she didn't talk about this topic. Perhaps that’s why she loved other people’s children so much. After all, she had as many as 5 godchildren, whom she spoiled and showered with gifts.
- Did she understand that she was drinking herself?
Dmitriy:- Of course, I understood. I told her: “Lyudmila, with your money you can be cured of any disease.” We offered her treatment, but she brushed it off: “It’s all a scam.” She didn’t even let doctors near her when they wanted to put IVs on her.
- Dzhigurda says that she has started drinking in recent years. Maybe he didn't know the true state of affairs?
He knew everything. In 2012, Lyusya went on vacation with Dzhigurda and Anisina to Greece. Marina called me from there: “Dima, what should I do? Lyusya is naked in the room, lying on the floor covered in bruises and drunk.”
- Could a drunken Lyudmila be persuaded to do something?
Liana:- Lucy was very demanding and stubborn. She always did only what she wanted, she never listened to anyone in her life. She was very principled. And she always controlled everything in any condition.
- Didn’t she indulge in drugs?
She always told me, I will drink as much as I want, but I have never smoked or tried drugs in my life. She was proud of this. And in this regard there was flint.
Bratash with Pavel Bure (left).
“250 thousand euros and jewelry were missing from the safe. Documents for Moscow real estate were also stolen."
Let's restore the chronology of events. So, Nikita Dzhigurda disappears from Bratash’s life for two years and reappears on the eve of the last New Year.
Liana:- Dzhigurda and Anisina showed up in December last year. The fact is that Lucy always prepared gifts for her five godchildren. For Dzhigurda’s children, although she was godmother to only one of them, she had accumulated a bunch of gifts in two years. They were in boxes in the room. At the end of December, Marina came to Lyusya’s home. According to Bratash, Anisina complained to her that there was no money at all and there was nothing to transport children to school in France. Marina then asked Lyusya to give her her car in Paris, so that she would have something to transport the kids with.
Dmitriy:- I came to Bratash on December 21. Lyusya told me from the doorway that she had given the car to Marina. Well, she gave it and gave it away, I only advised to re-register the car in Anisina’s name so that Lyusya would not have to pay taxes.
- Were you well acquainted with Anisina and Dzhigurda?
We knew each other well. We communicated with them normally. There were no previous conflicts. Nikita always seemed strange to me, but nothing more. Everything changed after the New Year. On December 27, Dzhigurda called me: “We are taking Lucy to our place for the New Year so that you can rest for the holidays.” I was surprised. Lyudmila let me go anyway until January 10th. For the holidays, my wife and I were planning to go to my mother-in-law in Bryansk. On January 1, before leaving for vacation, I stopped by Bratash, because I left a shower stall in her garage - a gift for my mother-in-law. A security guard met me: “Dzhigurda has been with Lyudmila since yesterday evening.” I went up to the apartment. I was met by a surprised Dzhigurda. Lucy was lying on the bed in a tracksuit. Nikita grabbed Bratash by the arms and began to talk some kind of heresy like “Lucy was our angel yesterday.” I took a closer look at Nikita, he seemed sober. Therefore, I didn’t have any bad thoughts. I left them and went home. In the evening of the same day, the security guard at the house called me again, informing me that Lucy was being taken away somewhere. I rushed to Bratash. Opened the door. There are only dogs in the house. This seemed strange to me. Previously, Lucy had never left dogs alone. If she was away for a long time, she gave the animals to me. Just in case, I decided to check the safe. I took out a spare key. Lucy completely trusted me, so I knew where the keys were. I opened the safe, and it was empty.
- What was kept in the safe?
There was about 250 thousand euros in cash and jewelry. Lucy herself estimated the contents of the safe at 600 thousand euros. I started calling Anisina, Lyusya, Nikita. Phones were unavailable. Later, Marina, who was in France at that moment, contacted me. She promised to look into the situation. I calmed down a little. I took Lyusya’s dogs, and my wife and I left for Bryansk.
Liana:“When I found out that the safe was empty, I immediately thought that something was fishy here.” Knowing Lucy, one could assume that she could give money to the same Dzhigurda, but giving away the entire contents of the safe to anyone and being left with nothing is not about her.
Dmitriy:- Lucy never threw money away, even when drunk. In any condition, she counted money.
Liana:- In a state of alcoholic intoxication, she could forget where she put the ring and earrings. Her husband sometimes returned from her with the words: “Today we were looking for a bracelet all day. Found”, “Lost earrings. Found." The only thing Bratash didn’t find was an expensive ring. It disappeared in Turkey, during her vacation with the Dzhigurda couple. Lyusya then thought that she had put the jewelry in the pocket of her tracksuit, and it fell out.
- Bratash’s last savings were kept in that safe?
No, there were still bank accounts. But Lucy still wouldn’t give up her expensive watch or her 5-carat diamond ring.
- In the end, did you find Lyudmila?
On January 2, Anisina called and said that Dzhigurda had assigned Lyusya to a closed clinic where she would be treated for alcoholism. We later learned that Bratash was admitted to the clinic only on the evening of January 3. Where she was for two days is unknown.
Dmitriy:- There was also a strange story with the clinic. When I asked Dzhigurda the address of the hospital, he flatly refused to give it. That's when I suspected something was wrong. I contacted Lyudmila’s sister, Svetlana, who lives in Belarus. He notified her that money had disappeared from Bratash’s apartment, and Dzhigurda took Lucy herself away in an unknown direction. Sveta arrived in Moscow, and on January 5 we called the police. On the same day, we discovered another loss - documents for the Moscow real estate of Bratash disappeared.
Jewelry that disappeared from Lyudmila Bratash's safe.
-Dzhigurda was called in for questioning?
Liana:- He was checked and released. Lyusya made herself known only on January 8th. She called her sister and said that she would be back in a couple of days. But we didn’t see her at the appointed time. Then Svetlana again contacted the police. She asked me to find Lucy. She was told that Bratash wrote a note at the clinic saying she didn’t want to see her sister. In turn, Dzhigurda ordered the security guard of the house where Bratash lived not to let my husband into the territory, also on the basis of some kind of note allegedly from Lucy. Then they began to accuse Dmitry of theft.
- When did Bratash return from the clinic?
In total, Lucy spent more than a week in the clinic. Then she came back and sent me a text message asking me to bring the dogs. I arrived at her house and found Lucy in a state of prostration. She could barely move her tongue and seemed inhibited. I started asking her: “What happened? Do you know that your money and jewelry are missing? Dmitry is blamed for everything.” She nodded: “I know. Only two people enter my house - Dmitry and Dzhigurda. Maybe I hid it myself.” There was no point in further conversation. I understood that Lucy had not yet fully come to her senses. The only thing I reminded her of was: “Dzhigurda said that you fired Dimka.” She was surprised: “I didn’t fire anyone.” With that we said goodbye.
- After Bratash returned from the clinic, where was Dzhigurda?
Dzhigurda and Anisina did not leave Lucy a single step. They were next to her in the apartment all the time. No one was allowed near her. And on the first day after Lucy returned from the clinic, Nikita bought her cider: “A little bit is okay.” Bratash’s sister Svetlana, who had not yet managed to leave back to Belarus, told us all this. And on January 17, Dzhigurda practically escorted Sveta out of the house.
- Did Dzhigurda contact the police about the missing money?
He called the police. I demanded that Lyudmila write a statement that my husband had robbed her. Lucy refused. Bratash then broke off communication with us. She rarely called me, and only when Nikita was not around. He didn’t let her go one step away from him. Only on January 28 did I receive a text message from Lucy: “Come with Dima. Nikita went to France." And on January 30, she wrote to her husband: “Dima, 100 percent this is not you. Dzhigurda made a fool of himself." We have saved this message. This coming weekend we came to see Lucy. Bratash has finally come to her senses. And she asked in a business-like manner: “Tell me what happened here.”
Based on such a will, Nikita Dzhigurda intends to fight for the inheritance of the late Bratash.
“Nikita was not interested in where or when Lucy would be buried. At this time he was giving interviews"
Liana:- We told her everything from the very beginning. Lyusya, in turn, said that not only did the money disappear from the safe, almost 500 thousand rubles were written off from her accounts. She then made a request to the banks where and when money was withdrawn from the cards. I found out that on January 2, 156 thousand were withdrawn from one card, 200 thousand from another and 120 thousand from a third. She also asked to view the CCTV cameras installed above the ATMs where money was withdrawn. We have preserved these photographs. The pictures show Dzhigurda and his driver. Nikita later said that he withdrew money to pay for Lyudmila’s treatment at the clinic.
- Where did he get the code for the card?
The codes were kept in a safe. Lucy also tried to get a bill from the clinic for her treatment. I sent requests there. But I never received an answer. By the way, when we asked Lucy if she was really treated there for alcoholism, she rolled her eyes: “They gave me masks, massages, and that’s all.” Later it turned out that the clinic where Lucy was hospitalized specialized in weight loss programs.
Dmitriy:“When I told Lucy that in addition to money and jewelry, documents for apartments had also disappeared from her office, she was shocked. In a matter of days, we began to restore documents and carry out transactions so that no one could make any transactions with real estate. In Dzhigurda's absence, Lucy met with influential acquaintances and consulted on all these issues. She made an inventory of the missing property and was going to go to the police to file a statement. She copied all the collected information - statements from Sberbank, video footage - onto a flash drive and gave it to me: “Let you have it too.”
- Was Marina Anisina aware of what happened? She was in France after all.
According to Lucy, she called Anisina and told her about her suspicions. Marinka answered calmly, saying that if Nikita took the money, she would divorce him. That's all. We assume that Anisina could know everything. For example, when Sister Bratash was looking for the clinic where Lucy was admitted, she called Dzhigurda. He shouted into the phone: “You’re late, everything has already been transferred to us. You're nothing at all." Sveta then contacted Anisina. And she repeated the same words as Nikita. It was then that we realized that Marina was aware of Nikita’s affairs.
- After the trip to France, did Dzhigurda contact Bratash?
Nikita no longer contacted Lyudmila. Didn't come and didn't call. And do you know what the catch of this whole story is? Lucy never had time to write a statement to the police. So whoever got the jewelry and money was very lucky. I am no one Bratash and have no right to write statements. Lyudmila's sister never saw the contents of the safe. Therefore, the topic of theft was closed by itself.
- Do you remember what Lyudmila Bratash did the day before her death? Maybe you noticed something strange in her behavior?
Liana:- On February 14, she called us in the morning and asked us to come visit. She complained of a headache. We then realized that she had started drinking again. Lucy asked her husband to bring a bottle of white wine. We brought it, otherwise she would have ordered a box of vodka via the Internet, as she usually did. That day she was strange, they noticed that she had a hangover. She complained that she didn’t feel well. Before leaving, Lucy said to her husband: “Dima, see you tomorrow.” And we left. The next day, Dima, as usual, arrived at Lyusya’s at 10 am. Nobody opened the door for him. Luda was dead. And soon Dzhigurda began giving interviews in which he blamed my husband for the death of Bratash. He said that Dimka robbed her, drugged her, raped her, that he transferred all the real estate documents to himself, and so on.
- Did Dzhigurda personally contact you after his death?
Dmitriy:- He never contacted us. He didn’t express his condolences to Sister Lucy either.
- Is it true that he was not allowed to attend Bratash’s funeral?
Dzhigurda was not interested in where or what time the funeral would be. My sister Lucy and I took care of the funeral arrangements. We buried Bratash in our family grave; we had one place. The funeral was quiet. Some of her employees, relatives and our family were present. At the end of her life, Lyudmila had no friends left. Her former business partners knew where the funeral service would be held, but no one came. While we were burying Lucy, Dzhigurda continued to blame us for her death through the media. I remember he was indignant that we, they say, wanted to cremate Lucy. What nonsense? Investigators immediately explained to us that the body cannot be taken out of the country, let alone cremated, because exhumation is possible, too much inheritance is at stake, anything can happen. After all, they initially planned to bury Lucy in Minsk, in the family grave. Did not work out. The investigator didn’t even give Lyudmila’s passport to her sister; he said that anything could happen to the document in the morgue. The passport remained in business. We issued death certificates based on police certificates.
Today Dzhigurda declares that he is the heir to the entire fortune of the deceased. Could it happen that Lyudmila actually drew up a will for him?
Liana:- Lucy didn’t write any will for her sister. She always said: “Why? Everything will go to my sister anyway; she is my closest relative.” Shortly before her death, Lyusya told me that she knew that Nikita was laying claim to her apartment in France. Lucy even thought about drawing up a deed of gift for his son. She understood that her sister Svetlana did not need this property, she would not be able to service it. But it seems she never wrote any will. Meanwhile, Anisina seems to have been living in her apartment in France since April.
Dmitriy:- I have no doubt that the court will figure out how genuine the will is in Dzhigurda’s hands. Nikita claims that Bratash wrote it six years ago, when she was in America. But she did not go to America at that time.
- What kind of fortune does Dzhigurda claim?
For all. These are three apartments in Moscow. Each one costs about $2 million. Lucy has about 800 thousand euros left in her accounts. The deceased's sister Svetlana was supposed to inherit the inheritance on August 14. And on August 12, Dzhigurda brought his will to court. Why was he silent for so long? Also strange.
- Why does Dzhigurda accuse you of all mortal sins? You're not claiming the inheritance, are you?
I can only guess. It just so happened that at some point I ruined his plans. If I had not returned to Moscow for the holidays, perhaps before January 10, Lucy would have been processed, and she would have transferred the property to the right person. But I arrived, called my sister from Belarus, went to the police, created a fuss, and the matter began to escalate. Perhaps Dzhigurda did not forgive me for this.
: shaved off his beard, changed his hair color and seemed to look 20 years younger. And all because he decided, in his words, to “merge with the crowd.”
“I used to stand out with my appearance,” Dzhigurda explained to Komsomolskaya Pravda, “but now I’m tired of shocking behavior. I want to live an ordinary life!
However, Dzhigurda’s ordinariness is like the moon. Consider, for example, his statement that he is changing his last name to a new one - Janatan El-Air Bratash Ji Pogorzelsky von Gan Eden. Bratash - in honor of a friend who died in February of this year and left her fortune to the artist. This scandalous story is reminiscent of a detective story: the mysterious death of a rich lonely lady, an 800-million-dollar inheritance that fell on Dzhigurda, and a battle for the right to own wealth. But first things first.
Rich girlfriend
The name of Lyudmila Bratash was well known in the field of Russian VIP air transportation, in which she, a native of Belarus, made a dizzying career. In the early 80s, Lyudmila worked in the press center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But I dreamed of finding a job related to the sky. Her father was a military man and often took his daughter with him to the airfield. When perestroika struck, Bratash came up with and launched her own business - she opened the elite air transportation company Al Air.
“The specificity of our business is that we do not need to buy aircraft. It's expensive and pointless. It is necessary to rent cars from the owners and properly organize the flight system and service in the air. That’s all,” Bratash told Expert magazine in 2003. During the crisis, she baked pancakes herself at night to bring them to the morning flight and serve them with caviar to her VIP clients on board the plane.
But this was at first, and then the business began to bring good dividends, and Lyudmila could only control the established service.
Luda even personally selected flight attendants for her company - the most beautiful models worked for her, ready to provide any services to passengers, among whom were oil magnates and oligarchs. They called Lyuda at any time of the day with a request to prepare a plane for them, - Alexey Korostelev, an acquaintance of Lyudmila Bratash, told KP. - Luda had a cheerful disposition, loved sports and travel. She looked good, knew how to make an impression, carry on a conversation, and always, as they say, had her finger on the pulse.
It was the Bratash company that took the Russian elite to Courchevel, says another friend of Lyudmila, restaurateur Victoria Lazich. - Politicians, bankers, and entrepreneurs used the services of her company. This woman made herself - she earned capital with her labor and brains. I bought an apartment in Paris, had luxury housing in Moscow, a dacha, and a personal driver. Only my personal life didn’t work out.
According to friends, the 56-year-old businesswoman has never been married, and her stories about her ex-pilot husband are fiction for the sake of a beautiful legend.
- How long have you known Lyudmila Bratash?- “KP” asked Nikita Dzhigurda himself.
A hundred years! First, my wife Marina Anisina met Lyusya, then she introduced me. Lucy became our son's godmother. We were friends...
Bratash often left Russia for her apartment in Paris. Anisina also often visits France: she is engaged in coaching, teaching figure skaters. That's where the women met. We met often and went on vacation together. The press wrote that the wedding of Dzhigurda and Anisina was celebrated at Villa Bratash. But not everything was so rosy.
The machinations of the green serpent
Friends say: in recent years, Bratash has become addicted to drinking. Perhaps because she lost her business - her company went bankrupt. Lyudmila lived alone and, they say, was unhappy. Of her relatives, only her younger sister Svetlana Romanova lives in Belarus, and rarely visits Moscow.
At the beginning of this year, Svetlana wrote a statement to the Moscow police: her sister, Lyudmila Bratash, has disappeared! After the New Year holidays, the woman could not find Lyudmila - the phones were not answered.
What happened? Bratash gave the following explanation to the police (from the audit material):
“...Dzhigurda N.B. came to visit me in the evening on December 31, 2015. We have known each other for a long time, I am the godmother of his children. We celebrated the New Year on 01/01/16. I began to feel unwell, which may be due to alcohol abuse. Dzhigurda N.B. took me to his home in the Moscow region, the village of Zhukovo, to take care of me. I called a doctor who gave me IVs to get me out of my drunken state. Since my health was not improving, we decided to hospitalize me. On 01/03/16 in the evening, Dzhigurda took me to Dr. Fedorova’s clinic, located in the Moscow region, the village of Znamenskoye. I ask you not to carry out an investigation on the application of my sister Romanova S.D., since I have not disappeared anywhere, no illegal actions have been committed against me.
01/08/2016.”
It is possible that Lyudmila liked Dzhigurda not only as a friend, but also as a man, says Victoria Lazich. - Lyudmila was amorous, and Dzhigurda, of course, is a charismatic person, is interested in esoteric sciences and can impress women. If Lyudmila was in love with Dzhigurda, then it is quite logical that she wrote a will for him.
Missing Jewels
Lyudmila Bratash’s driver, Dmitry Kuronov, turned out to be more harsh in his statements. The man worked for the businesswoman for more than 20 years. Married, has children. In one of the TV shows, Dmitry voiced his version of the events of Lyudmila’s last New Year’s Eve. According to him, then jewelry worth 600 thousand euros disappeared from Bratash’s apartment. The man assures that on New Year’s Eve Dzhigurda was visiting Lyudmila for a reason.
“I think he just poured it out for her, he was celebrating alone,” said Dmitry. - I was probably “celebrating” around the apartment... I was rummaging around, looking for something. Her safe was opened and completely emptied. I discovered this loss on January 1st. In the evening, somewhere around ten, the security guard (at home - Ed.) calls me and says: “Lucy is being taken away.” I break down and go there, go up to the apartment, I had my own key, I open the apartment, and there is unnatural cleanliness, there are some candles, not Lyudmilina’s. I decided to check the safe; I had a spare key. I opened the safe and it was completely empty. I started calling Marina Anisina, Lyusya, Dzhigurda. No one answered the phone, and then the phones were blocked.”
Surveillance cameras filmed how Dzhigurda’s assistant carried out several bags on January 1 and loaded them into the trunk of a car. Then the artist and his assistant took Lyudmila Bratash out by the arms, put her in the car and drove away.
I didn’t take anything out of Lucy’s apartment, but her driver and sister may well be involved in the disappearance of the jewelry,” Nikita Dzhigurda told KP. - Lucy noticed the loss of things while she was still alive and wrote about it to the police. She was sure that her sister and the driver were stealing from her. The police took no action. My sister and the driver knew that during her lifetime Lyusya had written a will for me and Anisin, and this angered them.
The name of Lyudmila Bratash was well known in the field of Russian VIP air transportation. Photo: Facebook
"I'm being threatened"
On February 15, Lyudmila was found dead in her apartment by driver Dmitry Kuronov. He says that he suspected something was wrong because Bratash did not answer calls. Dmitry arrived and opened the door with his key. Lyudmila was lying dead on the floor, empty bottles were lying nearby. Doctors came to the conclusion that death was due to a detached blood clot. But Dzhigurda is sure: not everything is so simple.
It was a violent death! - the artist told KP when we called him in the USA. (The conversation took place either by phone or due to communication failures via SMS). - There were numerous bruises on Lucy’s body, she could not have inflicted them on herself! This conclusion is in the file (an investigation into the woman’s death is underway. - Ed.).
Nikita believes her sister and driver were involved in the death of her friend. The artist publicly stated that they deliberately drugged Lyudmila with alcohol in order to appropriate her inheritance.
What do you think I'm doing in America now? - Dzhigurda suddenly asked a question.
- Did you fly away because you fear for your life?
Yes! I receive threats.
- Is your wife with you now?
No. She is in France, training figure skaters.
Dzhigurda said that he left for the USA not only because of threats. In New York, he intends to receive official confirmation of Bratash’s will, executed here, which will be required for the Moscow court.
The will was not recognized
Lyudmila was left with several apartments, a dacha, securities, as well as monetary assets - the total amount of the inheritance is 800 million rubles. The will itself was executed in the USA back in 2010. There Lyudmila and the Dzhigurda family rested together. According to the showman, even then the woman was afraid of the driver and sister, and therefore took care of the inheritance in advance.
True, an unexpected obstacle arose on Dzhigurda’s path to the treasured millions. The Russian notary rejected the American will presented by the artist because it “does not meet the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation in form and content.”
Dzhigurda is going to challenge this decision in court. In addition, he filed a lawsuit against Svetlana Romanova in the Kuntsevo Court of Moscow, believing that she has no right to claim her sister’s inheritance. In response, Romanova filed her own claim to have the will declared invalid.
This whole story with the death of Lyudmila Bratash looks ugly, says Victoria Lazich. - Alas, when single rich women die, bad fuss inevitably arises around the inheritance. This was the case with the inheritance of Zykina, and Juna, and many others. In my opinion, so far none of the disputing parties looks convincing and flawless.
DIRECT SPEECH
Lyudmila Bratash's driver Dmitry KURONOV:
Men only wanted money from her
- Dmitry, we saw Bratash’s statement that you allegedly gave her pills that made her feel sick...
Lord, what do you believe in?! These are all Dzhigurda’s fantasies. He dictated to her. Lyusya was in an inadequate state when she wrote. And the date has been corrected there. This drunken nonsense should not be taken seriously. I didn't give her any pills.
- If this is Dzhigurda’s fantasy, why did he need it?
To compromise me. On the basis of this note, I was then not allowed to go to “Ostrov” (the territory of the complex on Ostrovny Proezd, where Lyudmila lived. - Ed.). Dzhigurda jumped with this note and demanded that I not be allowed into the territory. And I was removed from the list. I then actually lost my job. Then Lucy turned on her brain and realized what had happened. She told me: “Go back to work.” And again I began to work for her.
- But her company collapsed!
Well, I worked for her as a personal driver, and as a personal bodyguard, and whatever else.
- Why did you have the keys to her safe?
I didn't have the key to the safe. I knew where the spare one was in her apartment.
- But did you have the key to the apartment itself?
I always had, for about 15 years, keys to all her apartments. She trusted me completely.
- If you were her driver until recently, why does Lyudmila write about you as “former driver”?
I repeat: in a drunken, inadequate state, she could write anything under Dzhigurda’s pressure. Let's start with the fact that Lyudmila was a journalist in her youth. She treated the letter very carefully. And for Lucy to write something as stupid as in these notes! Firstly, she always wrote my first name and patronymic. She would not have written “Dmitry Kuronov”. She treated all people with respect. And I always wrote my first and patronymic names in documents.
“Were you around her because you were doing your job, and not because you felt sorry for her?”
And I regretted it too. How many times have we offered her treatment? Her friends also invited her to Germany for treatment. Everyone knew, God, that she was drinking, but no one lifted a finger. They'll talk - that's all. What could I do alone? You start to tell her something, she: “Okay, that’s it, I’m free.” I’m at the door and she immediately calls: everything is brought to her instantly. The next day I come to work - Lucy is no good. There is no cure for female alcoholism.
How long ago did this start for her?
I think about ten years ago she already began to apply herself so seriously. From loneliness. She had many suitors over the years that I worked for her, more than 20 years. But most often they needed her money, her fortune. Out of love, she had a Frenchman alone for a very long time, she lived with him.
-And then they broke up?
The Frenchman was also tired of her feasts.
- Did you have a purely business relationship with her?
Not just business ones. Most likely family ones too. She loved my children. My wife constantly went to see her. She bought us a dog after we put ours to sleep. And my children were like family to her. She treated my children and my wife very warmly. Moreover, she loved her dogs very much. When my wife came to see her and the dogs licked her, for Lucy it was a sign: she was a kind person. When Lucy flew away somewhere, she left her dogs with us.
- They say you had an affair with her.
No, I didn’t allow myself to do that.
- In one of the notes Lyudmila writes “cleaning lady in Paris.” What does it mean?
What kind of word is this “cleaner”, Lord! This word is not from her vocabulary! She had an assistant in Paris - Marina. Lyudmila trusted her for many years. Lucy treated her well. She never said a bad word about her.
- How do you feel about Dzhigurda?
I never loved him. Lyudmila hated him too. Her fate turned out this way - she loved his children and Marinka Anisina.
COMPETENTLY
“Wrote by an unhealthy person”
We showed Lyudmila Bratash's notes graphologist and handwriting expert Sergei Sergeev, asking him in what condition the person who wrote them was.
I see suicidal signs in the manner of writing,” the expert told KP. - The person who wrote this did not commit suicide, did he? But he seemed to be on the verge. The notes show that their author is losing control of himself, is in an unfavorable state and is under great stress. Judging by the handwriting, the person’s life adaptation is reduced: there are very large distances between the lines. It is as if the person is in the stratosphere, and not in reality. The direction of the lines - they either fall or rise - indicates hysteria and mania. I won’t say that this is already a mental disorder, but rather one of the symptoms. But I won’t dare to say that he was inadequate; such a diagnosis is made by a psychiatrist.
