"Donbas Hero" Killed and Dismembered Partner and Her 19-Year-Old Daughter

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported the discovery of human body fragments on October 3 in an apartment on Zhulebinsky Boulevard in Moscow.

The victim was identified as 54-year-old Elena Tsereteli — the ex-wife of the well-known Moscow restaurateur Mamuka Tsereteli. Parts of her body were packaged in bags and hidden on the balcony; security forces found knives and blood traces in the apartment.

The next day, October 4, investigators found the body of the murdered woman's 19-year-old daughter, Darya, in Gagiyashvili's garage in New Moscow. Weapons and ammunition were found during the inspection of both crime scenes.

Павялічыць

The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow declared the man wanted, and he was soon detained in the Voronezh region while attempting to escape. As reported by the state agency TASS, citing sources in law enforcement, Gagiyashvili gave a confession.

According to information from the publication "Moskovsky Komsomolets", the perpetrator picked up the girl after training, drove her to his garage allegedly for some items, and shot her there. After that, he went to her mother's apartment, shot the woman, and dismembered her body. Investigators believe financial disagreements are the main motive for the murder.

From a "DPR" Militant to an Employee of State Media

Павялічыць

In pro-Kremlin media, the suspect is referred to as an "entrepreneur" and "fitness trainer," but investigators from the publication "Vazhnye Istorii" (Important Stories) identified him.

Published data and photographs confirm that Teimuraz Gagiyashvili was a fighter of the separatist "Sparta" battalion in the so-called DPR. Since 2014, he fought in the "first wave" under the command of Arsen Pavlov, known by the call sign "Motorola," and used the call sign "Gogi." Some sources referred to him as Pavlov's personal bodyguard.

According to Ukrainian activists, before the start of the war in Donbas, Gagiyashvili, holding Georgian citizenship, studied economics in Luhansk and worked as a manager in logistics companies and the "Severstal" structure.

Activists claimed that he joined the separatists after fleeing Georgia due to unpaid foreign currency loans and fraud charges.

During the period of active hostilities in eastern Ukraine, Gagiyashvili was married to the "Minister of Justice of the DPR." In 2016, during "Motorola's" murder in Donetsk, reports emerged that his bodyguard had died along with the commander, but Gagiyashvili survived and remained in the occupied territory. From 2019 to 2021, according to leaked databases, the former militant officially worked in Moscow for the state media holding MIA "Rossiya Segodnya." In 2021, he obtained Russian Federation citizenship through a simplified procedure. After the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Gagiyashvili, while maintaining his Moscow registration, continued to regularly cross the border with the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

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