The murder of the famous Odessa crime boss Viktor Kulivar, nicknamed Karabas, was organized by his close childhood friend, known as Sasha Sery, and the direct perpetrator was a killer nicknamed Baboon. Businessman Leonid Roitman stated this in an interview with RTVI. According to him, Karabas was warned about the impending assassination attempt and a day and a half before his death they offered him protection, but he refused because he did not believe in the betrayal of his entourage.
Roitman emphasized that for the first time he was publicly telling the circumstances of Kulivar’s murder known to him. RTVI does not have the ability to independently confirm the version it presents. The murder of Karabas officially remains unsolved.
Kulivar was shot dead in Odessa on April 21, 1997, near a bathhouse on Astashkin Street. The murder of one of the most famous representatives of the Odessa criminal world of the 1990s officially remained unsolved.
RTVI's interlocutor named his childhood friend, nicknamed Gray, as the alleged organizer of Karabas' murder. Roitman, according to him, never knew the man’s last name.
Sery and Kulivar allegedly knew each other since they were about five years old. While still a teenager, Gray ended up in prison and spent a total of 24 years behind bars. All this time, Roitman claims, Karabas helped his family, and after his release he brought Gray closer to his circle. However, the latter later decided to take Karabas's place and gain control of his business. He was allegedly pushed to do this by representatives of the group of the Odessa crime boss Stoyanov.
“They told him: “Sery, look, you are like this… Who is Karabas? And you have served so much time, you can be an authority, but he gives you some handouts there, he is in charge. It needs to be removed.” And Gray agreed,” said Roitman.
According to RTVI's interlocutor, the impending assassination attempt became known in advance. At that time, Roitman was the vice president of the Kyiv-Donbass company and was responsible for the security of its board of directors. According to him, the company’s management had connections in law enforcement agencies, thanks to which it received operational information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the SBU. Roitman claims that this is how information appeared that someone from Karabas’s inner circle had agreed with Stoyanov’s people to eliminate him.
About a day and a half before the murder, Roitman, together with his senior partner Oleg Asmakov, nicknamed Magadan, arrived in Odessa and met with Kulivar. They offered to leave their guard to Karabas, but he refused.
“We tell him: “Stoyanov will kill you, do you understand that? You are a target that can be easily eliminated. Leave then! – “I’m not going anywhere. None of my loved ones could order me! For what?” Roitman recounted the conversation with Kulivar.
Roitman named the killer from Stoyanov’s group, nicknamed Baboon, as the direct perpetrator of the murder.
“This is Baboon, he is a famous killer. This was one of Stoyanov’s main killers,” he said.
Roitman could not remember exactly the name of the alleged performer. According to him, after the murder of Karabas, the man was arrested for other crimes and he spent about 12 years in prison. Roitman claims that Baboon still lives in Odessa.
Gray himself, after the death of Karabas, according to Roitman, tried to carry out his plan and take his place. He contacted one of the businessmen close to Kulivar and offered to reconcile with Stoyanov’s group, unite the structures, and make him the new leader instead of Karabas.
However, Gray failed to achieve his goal. According to Roitman, by that time the man’s involvement in organizing the murder was already known. Gray was invited to a meeting with several people, where he was directly accused of organizing the massacre of Karabas and demanded to tell how the crime was prepared. According to Roitman, Sery confessed to everything. After that he was killed, although he was listed as missing. Roitman claims that this happened approximately four months after the death of Karabas.
At the same time, RTVI’s interlocutor refused to name the people who allegedly dealt with Sery, explaining that some of them were still alive.
According to Roitman, he knew Karabas from early childhood. At the same time, he called the widespread stories that Kulivar was allegedly “watching” Odessa or refused an offer to become a “thief in law” a fiction.
Roitman claims that Karabas had significant authority in the city and received money for the “roof” of the business, but he himself lived relatively modestly and tried to avoid conflicts between criminal groups.
“He was never an observer, he was never offered to be a thief in law – these are all some stupid inventions,” Roitman claims.
All information is provided from the words of Leonid Roitman. Watch the full interview on the “Duty in America” YouTube channel.
