ST. PETERSBURG, October 28. /TASS/. Russian Zenit St. Petersburg football club’s midfielder Andrey Mostovoi was in a state of shock after his attempted abduction, the club’s press office said in a statement provided to TASS on Tuesday.

"I can't tell you anything right now, because the investigation is underway, and I don't have the right to disclose everything," the statement quoted Mostovoi as saying. "It was late in the evening, everything was happening so fast, I didn't really have time to understand anything."

"Then a sense of realization followed that everything was pretty serious. It seems I behaved myself properly. I didn't panic, I didn't start making telephone calls to everyone, I waited until morning," he continued.

"Of course, I was shocked that such a thing could happen in our days. After this incident, my friend and I stayed in touch, it was hard to fall asleep, I didn't sleep much. But I didn't tell anyone anything, I decided to take a pause, no one knew anything, including my family. The next morning, I contacted our football club’s security staff," the footballer said.

According to TASS sources in the law enforcement bodies, on the night of October 23, unidentified assailants attempted to abduct the player of Zenit FC and the Russian national team, Andrey Mostovoi. Two days later, on October 25, they abducted businessman Sergey Selegen, who is a son-in-law of the former chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Makarov.

The footballer was able to fight off the attackers and escape, after which they fled in a car. The second victim was forcibly put into a foreign-made car by three attackers, in which they drove up to a supermarket on Vyazovaya Street. They handcuffed the man, took away his mobile phone and, threatening him with a pistol, demanded 10 million rubles (some $125,400).

Fearing for his life, the businessman transferred 210,000 rubles (over $2,630) to them, promising that his wife would bring the remaining money. However, at that moment, the car was stopped by the police, who already knew about the incident from an eyewitness and quickly tracked the vehicle.

Following further operative measures, law enforcement officers established the location of another accomplice and, jointly with Russia’s National Guard officers, detained him in the town of Kudrovo, in the Leningrad region.