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Bar owner where GRU Special Forces officer was killed is arrested in Armenia

The Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office sent a request to their Russian colleagues to access the case materials to initiate the prosecution

Nikita Belyankin Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

Nikita Belyankin

© Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

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MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The Armenian law enforcement agencies have arrested Grigor Oganyan, the owner of the Beer House bar in the Moscow Region, where former GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate) Special Forces officer Nikita Belyankin was murdered in a mass brawl, a source in the law enforcement agencies told TASS.

"Grigor Oganyan, the owner of the Beer House bar, was arrested in Armenia. [The bar] is where the two bar-goers were battered and Nikita Belyankin stood up for them," TASS was told.

According to another source, Oganyan evaded investigation and left Russia the next day after the brawl. As per earlier reports, the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office sent a request to their Russian colleagues to access the case materials to launch the prosecution procedure. Oganyan has been in custody for 40 days.

Former GRU Special Forces officer Nikita Belyankin was trying to break up a fight in the Moscow Region in the early hours of June 2. The brawl turned sour and Belyankin was killed, another man was injured. The Russian Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case on the fact of murder, inflicting bodily injuries and hooliganism. The investigation due date is August 2.

Earlier, nine people were arrested, namely Russian citizens Sergei Khodzhanyan, Rudik Manukyan, Artur Akobyan, David Yegizaryan and Suren Markosyan, as well as Armenian citizens Narek Stepanyan, Gamlet Ayrapetyan, Grant Ayrapetyan and Saak Saakyan. An international warrant order was issued for Oganes Ayrapetyan. Brothers Ayrapetyan and Khodzhanyan are charged with murder, attempted murder and hooliganism, the others are charged with hooliganism. All of them are denying guilt.

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