The FSB detained businessman Ilya Traber in St. Petersburg in connection with the murder of a lawmaker
In St. Petersburg, officers from the Central Directorate of Russia’s FSB detained one of the most influential local businessmen, 75-year-old Ilya Traber.
The detention took place on the morning of June 17, 2026, as part of an investigation into the high-profile 2020 murder of businessman and lawmaker Alexander Petrov.
Security forces conducted large-scale investigative operations at several locations linked to the detained businessman.
Searches were carried out at Traber’s country house in the Leningrad Region, at his office on Starorusskaya Street, and on the premises of a number of companies under his control.
Along with Traber, law enforcement officers detained his longtime business partner, Vladimir Danilenko.
The late deputy Alexander Petrov, whom the businessman is suspected of murdering at his dacha, was shot by a professional sniper.
Ilya Traber began his business career in the late 1980s dealing in antiques, after which he moved into the port and fuel sectors.
In 2008, he became a figure in a high-profile Spanish case involving the “Russian mafia” alongside entrepreneur Gennady Petrov.
The businessman’s name had previously appeared in Kremlin statements due to his activities in criminal circles and the St. Petersburg business community in the 1990s.
In 2021, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that Vladimir Putin knows Traber, as he “played a certain role in the economic life” of the city. However, the spokesperson denied the existence of any friendly or business ties between them.
In recent years, the detainee’s interests have focused on major infrastructure projects in the Baltic region.
He is an advisor and co-owner of the energy company LOESK and a key investor in the Primorsky UPK deep-water port terminal.
This large-scale complex in Primorsk was conceived as one of Russia’s largest new logistics hubs.
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