In the middle of June in the Kherson cafe “Food. Topi" on the banks of the Dnieper there was a shootout between FSB officers and two Russian contractors. During the skirmish, two FSB officers and one military man were killed. Many media outlets wrote about this with reference to a report prepared by the Military Investigation Department of the Russian Investigative Committee for the Black Sea Fleet. The document called the names of all the participants in the shootout, except for one. The Important Stories publication found out the name of the fourth FSB officer who participated in the scuffle and fled during the shootout.
It turned out to be Evgeny Tikhonov, the son of the famous FSB Colonel General Alexander Tikhonov. The latter for almost 25 years, until September of this year, headed the FSB Special Purpose Center, which was created on the basis of the Alfa and Vympel special forces units. According to Important Stories, Tikhonov, Jr., who served in the FSB department that oversees industry, went to Ukraine to earn money and, under the patronage of his father, get the position of deputy governor of the Nikolaev region. However, first the Armed Forces of Ukraine interfered, which did not allow Nikolaev to be taken, and then a shootout.
According to the report of the Investigative Committee, the shooting took place on June 19, around 20 pm. Four servicemen of Temporary Operational Group No. 9 of the FSB of Russia – Igor Yakubinsky, Sergey Privalov, Dmitry Borodin and, as it has now become known, Evgeny Tikhonov – entered the Food. Topi" on Ushakov Street and found two contractors there, Sergeant Sergei Obukhov and Junior Sergeant Igor Sudin. According to the IC document, Sudin and Obukhov "wasted their time idly drinking alcoholic beverages."
FSB officers reprimanded the military for drinking in uniform and with weapons. “Everyone was drunk there. When the skirmish began, the contractors began to demand that they be shown documents, ours answered something in the spirit of “who are you in general, go get some sleep.” As a result, one of the contractors pulled out his gun and started shooting at the floor, demanding documents, either he thought that the DRG [sabotage and reconnaissance group], or he just ate himself,” an FSB officer familiar with the situation told the publication.
Obukhov started shooting at the floor. FSB officer Privalov tried to take away his pistol, and contractor Sudin opened fire on the FSB officers from an AK-47 assault rifle, they began to shoot back. As a result, three people died and two were seriously injured. In Obukhov's native Ivanovo region, local media reported that he "at the cost of his own life saved his comrades who, thanks to his feat, were able to get out of the encirclement." The UK recognized Sudin as the key defendant in the shootout.
Tikhonov escaped during the skirmish, and it is precisely the fact that he left his comrades that his colleagues blame him for. “He later said that he actually ran for help, but who will believe it now,” says the source of Important Stories.