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So what was Aleksey Pichugin like in real life? He worked in Yukos's economic security service (it was known within the company by the acronym OBKhSS , so that its function was clearer to those of a certain age). This was a man who, the investigation and court alleged, became overnight the cold-blooded, calculating killer of his own friend. Could we have predicted that he was capable of killing a friend as his own infant godson looked on?
I have spoken to people who have known Pichugin for many years. And to this day none of them believe he is guilty. But their accounts are worth less than the testimony of career criminals, serial killers and rapists who suddenly "recalled" the evidence that the prosecution needed, long afterwards as they languished in high-security prisons.
These are the words of Pichugin's mother, his wife Tanya, old family friend Irina, and Slava, his driver.
Irina:
"You have to know his attitude towards children in order to judge him. I have a daughter, who's now 8. I greatly regret not asking Aleksey to be her godfather. He would do anything for her. In fact, she called him Father Christmas. We once went to see the Christmas tree at the Moscow Palace of Youth. He was so nice to her that she thought he was Santa. Aleksey even sends his love to all our children from prison. In his normal life, children to him meant everything! In conversation, half the time he's talking about his sons. Remember, he's on his second marriage. I remember him telling Tanya - "these kids are like our own". And Tanya is always saying that she now has three kids. Women don't usually regard a husband's children from a previous marriage as their own, but that's how Aleksey wanted it in his family."
Alla Nikolayevna, mother:
"When he was saying goodbye, Aleksey told me: 'Mum, when I saw a report on NTV about me and they said I'd left a son without a father, honestly, it was like a knife into the heart'."
Irina:
"He had quite a high-powered job. But he's an ordinary guy, not at all full of himself. He's also very caring, or rather attentive, to everyone who works with him. Especially to subordinates. Everyone loved him. They knew that he'd always help them out, and they were never reluctant to go and ask for help on anything at all, even domestic matters. Many, including managers, were upset when he was arrested. They weren't prepared for work without him, because he was the man who sorted all the problems, even domestic ones.
"To kill a man on your boss's orders, you need the type of personality that you just can't hide. He was never driven by money, he wasn't interested in the high life. He never once went on holiday abroad, although he could have. He loved Russia too much. To the end he remained an officer, liked nothing better than a barbecue with good company, he was always the gentleman, raising his glass to the ladies. No exaggeration here, this is absolutely true. He believed in love and in true friendship.
"He took delight in others' successes, and was never envious. He wanted me to continue my studies. Over the past two years I've come to realise that I've lost a caring father. We all miss him so much, we were used to him doing everything, and we forgot what it was like to have to struggle for things. Yet he was totally incapable of using others for his own ends. The reverse was true - others took advantage of him."
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