When the Lesha soldier comes out. The revelations of the killer Lesha the Soldier: “I made a personal contract with death

A contract killer nicknamed Lesha the Soldier eliminated his victims for a regular salary

"Killer No. 1" - this was considered Alexei SHERSTOBITOV, nicknamed Lesha the Soldier. His crimes have caused shock and awe for many years. His targets were businessmen, politicians, leaders of organized crime groups: Otari KVANTRISHVILI, Grigory GUSYATINSKY, Iosif GLOTSER, Alexander TARANTSEV ... Lesha-Soldat also had an order to liquidate Boris BEREZOVSKY.

The prisoner sentenced to 23 years for the first time gave a frank interview to our correspondent.

- You recently published the book "Liquidator". What did they want to tell her?

The meaning of the book was laid in the original, working title - "Anabasis to Repentance". This can be seen in the subtitle of the already printed edition - "Confessions of the Legendary Killer". In other words, this is a path through internal resistance, in battles with your pride, to the recognition of the deed and the repentance of a fallen and spiritually perished person.

In Orthodoxy, the concept of "repentance" also means an action opposite to what was done. My book is just such an action, designed to debunk all the romanticism of such a life, to remove the wrapper of justifications for the events of that time. But along with this, highlight the reasons that led young people like me, some to violence, some to prison, and some to unknown death.

Remove the oligarch

In your book, you describe how you should have killed Berezovsky. Do you regret not pulling the trigger at that fateful moment?

Then Berezovsky a split second was separated from death. It is impossible to say whether it would be better or worse if the bullet had reached its target. It is not for me to judge his deeds, although it is clear who he was for Russia. God will judge him. I don’t regret it!

- But why did the attempt on Berezovsky's life fail to bring the case to an end?

Then the task was set by Sylvester (the leader of the Orekhovskaya OPG Sergey Timofeev. - B.K.). He was also the customer of the murder Otari Kvantrishvili... Solved a multimillion-dollar problem: taking control of the Tuapse refinery. And, as in the attempt on Otari, the execution of the attempt on BAB was supervised by Kultik ( Sergey Ananievsky, the head of the Russian Powerlifting Federation at that time and at the same time the second person in the Orekhovo-Medvedkovskaya organized criminal group. - B.K.) and Grigory Gusyatinsky - "Brigadier" of the Medvedkovskys, a former KGB officer named Grisha Severny. He persuaded to keep in touch by means of the radio. I am categorically opposed to clogging up the air in such situations. But I had to give in.

At the very last moment, the ether exploded with screams. And with full concentration on the target before the shot, third-party senses are almost turned off. I barely heard this abuse and realized about the suspension of the operation literally a split second before the shot.

- Does it look like interference on the part of some influential forces?

Gusyatinsky sometimes asked to do something for Sylvester, and so it was that time. I expressed my dissatisfaction with him because of the broken case. But he said that the order to end the operation had been given by Sylvester himself from someone's office on the Lubyanka. So think about: who fought with whom, at whose expense, for whose interests? And who won in the end. Or lost. Think at your leisure why, three days before the shots at Krasnopresnenskie baths, Kvantrishvili was filmed from outside surveillance of one of the departments of the same structure, and he was shot without hindrance.

- In "Liquidator" you call the owner of "Russian Gold" Alexander Tarantsev the customer of a number of murders. Including the owner of the Dolls club, Joseph Glotser. Aren't you afraid of accusations of libel? Or something worse?

I'm not afraid of the truth! The investigators who were in charge of our case have this information better than I do. All these years, I, like any of our organized crime groups, knew who this man was. However, I am sure the law applies to people like him differently than to ordinary citizens. Lord Tarantsev - is no exception among businessmen who started in the early 90s. But compared to some of the current people who are at large and boldly flickering on a blue screen, he is just a child! I wrote about him in the book for only one reason - Alexander Petrovich's company was a very large sector of the economy of our "trade union". Much was locked in his firm. Without him, everything said would be incomplete and would be perceived untrue. And there is not a word of lies in this book!

Some politicians are worse than bandits

If the 90s were transferred to our time? Imagine you received an order for a famous politician or businessman. Let's say Chubais.

Well, if you only look from the position of that time ... Loud names, then, will not be a joke to search. There are always two sides, though. One will benefit from this, the other will lose. I do not like politics, there is no place for morality in it: blackmail, political destruction of the enemy, setups. But people also choose this path themselves. Honestly mister Nemtsov as an oppositionist I do not perceive. He, like Chubais, one of those who handed us over to the West and actually unleashed the civil war, to which my book is dedicated. I remember well what these young reformers did in the 90s and how it all ended. I think then I would not shoot at a politician, although time has shown that they are mostly worse than those for whose death I was condemned.

- How do you think a killer is a profession? Or a way of life? Or maybe this is the fate?

Here, the possible indignation of the readers of your newspaper immediately comes to mind: “We survived, they are taking an interview with the killer! As if there is no one more worthy! And they also ask to tell about the profession! " Maybe they are right. But how, then, can we solve this problem if we don't talk about it?

Although “killer” is translated from English as “killer”, I have never been a killer! A murderer - definitely! Because the killer receives a large fee for the execution of the order, and I did not receive money for the elimination, because I was on a constant monetary allowance. The amount varied depending on the financial condition of the "trade union". It came out two thousand dollars a month, then it became five. At the same time, I have always been mainly engaged in information mining - wiretapping of phones, interception of mobile and paging communications, surveillance, search, analysis. It was this that was part of my main responsibilities for almost fifteen years, and it was thanks to my main activity that the investigators of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department turned out to be so pleased with their part of the archive with calculations for several groups. By the way, they turned out to be more accurate and more detailed than they had.

I knew two dozen people professionally involved in murder. Most of them are already dead, almost all of them are still alive, except for two missing. This, incidentally, indicates the presence of people in the bodies who know how to fight crime. I think I will not disclose a secret if I say that psychologists have not worked with any of them. Is that at the Serbsky Institute on the commission for some five minutes, and then for the sake of form. In all the works where I read about the psychology of such a "profession", I found only descriptions of what killers should be. That is, something close to a certain standard. Everyone I met had no more than 50 percent similarity to what was described. I’m silent about the fact that they were not much alike. Of course, the reasons why they took up their craft are far from the same. Maybe it will be frank: the overwhelming majority of them had almost nothing to do with either special structures or the army. Some didn't even serve.

Let me emphasize that a person who has become a killer will definitely have a hole in the forest or a prison.

In the photo, he (on the right) poses with Andrey PYLEV against the background of Spanish beauties (1995)

As for me, I never intended to do it for money. Moreover, the first such case was forced, as, indeed, and subsequent ones. If I was only interested in money, then after the death that overtook my former boss Grigory Gusyatinsky in Kiev at my own hand, I would remove the brothers Andrew and Oleg Pylevykh, who took his place after the death of Gregory ordered by them. For them I was promised Yuri Usatim (Yuri Bachurin, a member of the Medvedkovskaya organized criminal group. - B.K.), now also deceased, 200 thousand dollars each. In those days, the amount was just crazy!

- How long do you have to sit?

I was arrested on February 2, 2006. For Americans, it's Groundhog Day. Here I am more about the film. Many people in prison compare staying there with the misfortune that befell the protagonist: every day is like the previous one ... So, I was arrested in 2006, and release, if the Lord willing, in 2029. The main thing is to spend every day, every hour profitably, trying to fix something.

REFERENCE

* Alexey SHERSTOBITOV was born in 1967 in Moscow.

* Hereditary officer, holder of the Order For Personal Courage.

* He was a member of a group of former employees of the GRU, KGB, Ministry of Internal Affairs as part of the Orekhovskaya and Medvedkovskaya organized crime groups, designed to collect, process and use information, as well as to physically eliminate a particular difficulty.

* On account of his 12 proven murders and attempts.

The legendary killer Alexei Sherstobitov, being imprisoned in the Lipetsk colony, writes books, composes songs, married again and leads an active network life.

Condemned to 23 years for the murders committed in the 90s, the killer of the famous Medvedkovskaya group, Alexei Sherstobitov, does not lose courage and regularly shares his photos from the colony, supplementing them with philosophical quotes. The conclusion did not in any way affect his love of life, but only made him a prolific writer and poet.

51-year-old Alexei Sherstobitov is serving a 23-year sentence in the Lipetsk colony for 12 contract murders committed in the 90s.

Fame came to Sherstobitov in the mid-2000s, after he had been successfully hiding from justice for many years. It is interesting that for a long time Sherstobitov was considered a fictional character, and his pseudonym - Lesha Soldat - was a collective image of a group of hired killers.

Sherstobitov in 2002, 4 years before his arrest and trial.

His life changed dramatically after his arrest in 2006. Then he made a sensational confession about 12 contract killings of crime bosses and businessmen, and as a result received 23 years of strict regime. But in the colony, he found himself something to do, starting to write poetry and prose. The starting point of his career behind bars was his autobiography "Liquidator". After its release, Alexey continues to try himself in new genres, and just a few days ago his new book "The Demon on Yavoni" was published.

But the famous killer did not stop at these achievements. Now he is comprehending a "new craft" - he has become an active network directly from the Lipetsk colony: Sherstobitov's accounts have been found in almost all social networks. The shocking prisoner is of great interest to users. On the Internet, he shares some of the peculiarities of his time in prison and advises readers to start every day with a smile.

A photo from an Instagram account that has already been removed from the network.

The famous prisoner supplied the pictures with philosophical quotes like this:

They say that history cannot be changed. But this is not the case. It is impossible to return the past day, but it is quite possible to correct yesterday's mistakes today. And then "it was bad" will turn into "it was bad, but since then everything has changed." The story of your life is yours, so that you and only you yourself were its creator and rewrite it yourself, if necessary. "

Lesha Soldier has an official website, group in "VKontakte" dedicated to his life, and quite popular YouTube channel ... However, until recently, the most interesting news about Sherstobitov could be learned from Istagram. The account, which was recently deleted when publicized in the media, was led by the current wife of the killer, Marina. By the way, their love story surprised the world back in June 2016, when they registered their marriage.

Sherstobitov and his fiancée Marina, a psychiatrist who in the past worked as a forensic scientist.

With his future wife, 33-year-old psychiatrist from St. Petersburg Marina Sosnenko, the genius of disguise met by correspondence. Previously, a spectacular brunette was married to the famous actor Sergei Druzhko. Letter after letter Alexey and Marina got to know each other better and in the end decided to get married. The ceremony itself, carefully coordinated with the administration of the colony, lasted only about 15 minutes. And from the photo gallery of the official website of the criminal writer, it became known that the young people also consecrated the bonds of marriage with a wedding.

The marriage registration procedure was carried out in the office of the deputy. head of ITK. For this, a registry office employee was specially invited. Among the few invited were only the closest relatives and friends of the newlyweds - Lesha Soldat's sisters, childhood friends of both spouses and the killer's lawyer. After the marriage, the young, as legal spouses, received permission for a long date. Also, on the occasion of the wedding, the prison administration allowed a photo session. The newlyweds posed in the costumes of Prohibition-era American gangsters.

Despite the fact that many events from his personal life have become public knowledge, Alexei continues to be a man of mystery. In many ways, this is facilitated by his past life, many situations from which have not yet been voiced. Only sometimes Sherstobitov lifts this curtain of mystery, talking about the twists and turns of the 90s.

One of his loudest statements was the confession of the murder of Otari Kvartrishvili in 1994. It was this high-profile case that caused a storm of emotions among those around him and made Lesha the Soldier again realize how slippery his killer's path became after this order.

Boris Berezovsky after the assassination attempt in 1994

Alexey was detained at the beginning of 2006, at the time when he had already retired. The law enforcement agencies found out about Sherstobitov's existence only in 2003, when they arrested the leaders of the Orekhovo-Medvedkovo organized crime groups. One of them wrote a frank confession, where for the first time he "leaked" his killer. During interrogations, ordinary militants spoke about a certain “Lesha-Soldier”, but no one knew either his last name or what he looked like. Investigators believed that "Lesha the Soldier" was a kind of mythical collective image. Sherstobitov himself was extremely careful: he did not communicate with ordinary bandits, did not participate in their gatherings. He was a master of conspiracy and reincarnation: going on business, he always used wigs, fake beards or mustaches. At the scene of the crime, Sherstobitov did not leave fingerprints, there were no witnesses.

Recall that while serving his sentence, Sherstobitov wrote 11 books on crime. The controversial literary value of works does not interfere with the popularity of the writer. Readers note the usefulness of books in terms of cognition. After all, the events of those years are still fresh in the memory. While awaiting the verdict, Aleksey Shestorbitov wrote a cycle of poems dedicated to the themes of repentance and death.

Everything that one wants to say to the outside world today, the ex-killer pours out with the help of creativity. He tries to remember his “past sins” as rarely as possible and looks to the future with optimism.

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The legendary killer Alexei Sherstobitov, being imprisoned in the Lipetsk colony, writes books, composes songs, married again and leads an active network life.

51-year-old Alexei Sherstobitov is serving a 23-year sentence in the Lipetsk colony for 12 contract murders committed in the 90s.

Sherstobitov in 2002, 4 years before his arrest and trial.

A photo from an Instagram account that has already been removed from the network.

The famous prisoner supplied the pictures with philosophical quotes like this:
“They say that history cannot be changed. But this is not the case. It is impossible to return the past day, but it is quite possible to correct yesterday's mistakes today. And then "it was bad" will turn into "it was bad, but since then everything has changed." The story of your life is yours, so that you and only you yourself were its creator and rewrite it yourself, if necessary ".
Lesha Soldat has an official website, a VKontakte group dedicated to his life, and a fairly popular YouTube channel. However, until recently, the most interesting news about Sherstobitov could be learned from Istagram. The account, which was recently deleted when publicized in the media, was led by the current wife of the killer, Marina. By the way, their love story surprised the world back in June 2016, when they registered their marriage.

Sherstobitov and his fiancée Marina, a psychiatrist who in the past worked as a forensic scientist.

Criminal authority, founder of the party of athletes of Russia Otari Kvantrishvili.

Boris Berezovsky after the assassination attempt in 1994

But the most difficult target, according to Sherstobitov, was Boris Berezovsky. The oligarch visited him at gunpoint in the same 1994. The reason for "this meeting" was the controversial $ 100,000 between a well-known crime boss and a businessman. After Berezovsky survived the explosion of his car, Alexei was ordered to finish him off. But just a few seconds before completing the task, the killer learned that the liquidation decision had been canceled.
Alexey was detained at the beginning of 2006, at the time when he had already retired. The law enforcement agencies found out about Sherstobitov's existence only in 2003, when they arrested the leaders of the Orekhovo-Medvedkovo organized crime groups. One of them wrote a frank confession, where for the first time he "leaked" his killer. During interrogations, ordinary militants spoke about a certain “Lesha-Soldier”, but no one knew either his last name or what he looked like. Investigators believed that "Lesha the Soldier" was a kind of mythical collective image. Sherstobitov himself was extremely careful: he did not communicate with ordinary bandits, did not participate in their gatherings. He was a master of conspiracy and reincarnation: going on business, he always used wigs, fake beards or mustaches. At the scene of the crime, Sherstobitov did not leave fingerprints, there were no witnesses.

Sherstobitov on trial in 2006.

In 2005, one of the leaders of the Kurgan organized criminal group, Andrei Koligov (she was associated with the Orekhovskaya and Medvedkovskaya organized criminal groups), who was serving a long term, unexpectedly summoned investigators and said that a certain killer had once recaptured his girlfriend (it was Irina). Through her, the detectives came to Sherstobitov, who was arrested in early 2006 when he came to the Botkin hospital to visit his father. During a search of Sherstobitov's rented apartment in Mytishchi, detectives found several pistols and machine guns.
Recall that while serving his sentence, Sherstobitov wrote 11 books on crime. The controversial literary value of works does not interfere with the popularity of the writer. Readers note the usefulness of books in terms of cognition. After all, the events of those years are still fresh in the memory. While awaiting the verdict, Aleksey Shestorbitov wrote a cycle of poems dedicated to the themes of repentance and death.
Everything that one wants to say to the outside world today, the ex-killer pours out with the help of creativity. He tries to remember his “past sins” as rarely as possible and looks to the future with optimism.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

K: Wikipedia: Articles without images (type: not specified)

Alexey Lvovich Sherstobitov (born January 31, 1967, Moscow) - a member of the Medvedkovskaya organized criminal group, known as "Lesha-Soldier"... On account of his 12 proven murders and attempts. Engaged in literary activity, wrote autobiographical books "Liquidator", part 1 (2013); The Liquidator, Part 2 (2014), The Devil's Skin (2015), Another's Wife (2016), The Liquidator, Full Version (2016).

Biography

Life before the organized crime group

Alexey Sherstobitov was born into the family of a hereditary career officer and dreamed of serving all his life. The family lived in Moscow on Koptevskaya Street, in a house where many servicemen lived, mainly from the Ministry of Defense. Sherstobitov's ancestors served in the Tsar's army. Aleksey Sherstobitov's grandfather, Colonel Aleksey Mikhailovich Kitovchev, took part in the battle for the liberation of Sevastopol, for which he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. From an early age, Alexei Sherstobitov knew how to handle weapons, after graduating from school he entered the Leningrad Higher School of Railway Troops and Military Communications named after M.V. Frunze at the Faculty of Military Communications, which he graduated in 1989. He studied at the same football school with Alexander Mostov and Oleg Denisov. During his studies, he detained a dangerous criminal, for which he was awarded the order. After graduating from military school, he was assigned to the Department of Special Transportation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on the Moscow Railway, where he worked as an inspector, and then as a senior inspector. At that time, Sherstobitov was fond of powerlifting and regularly went to the gym, while still in the military. There he met the former senior lieutenant of the KGB Grigory Gusyatinsky ("Grinya") and Sergey Ananievsky ("Cult"), who was at that time the head of the Federation of Powerlifting and Powerlifting and the deputy leader of the Orekhovskaya organized criminal group Sergey Timofeev ("Sylvester")... Initially, Gusyatinsky instructed Sherstobitov to ensure the safety of several stalls. The senior lieutenant showed himself to be a good organizer, capable of solving (including by force) emerging problems. The leaders of the Medvedkovskaya organized criminal group appreciated his abilities and forced him to agree to a new position - a full-time killer.

Hitman career

The first task "Lesha the Soldier" was an attempt to murder the former deputy chief of the special forces of the OMSN, Filin, who later resigned from the authorities and became a criminal. On May 5, 1993, on Ibragimov Street, Sherstobitov shot at Filin's car from a Mukha grenade launcher. The owl and his friend, who were in the car, received minor injuries and survived, but Sylvester was pleased with the work done. Later, "Lyosha-Soldat" killed several more people. The most famous crime of Sherstobitov was the murder of Otari Kvantrishvili on April 5, 1994.

In 1994, Timofeev had a conflict with the "thief in law" Andrey Isaev ("Painting")... Sherstobitov set up a car filled with explosives near Isaev's house on Osenny Boulevard and, when he got out, pressed the remote control button. Isaev himself was wounded, but survived. The explosion killed a little girl.

After the murder of Timofeev on September 13, 1994, Gusyatinsky and Sherstobitov left for Ukraine for security reasons. After this trip, Sherstobitov, together with brothers Andrey and Oleg Pylev ("Small" and "Sanych") agreed to liquidate Gusyatinsky. Sherstobitov seriously wounded his boss in Kiev from a sniper rifle when he approached the window of a rented apartment. Gusyatinsky lay in a coma for several days, after which he was disconnected from life support devices. After that, the Pylevs allowed Sherstobitov to assemble his own team of three people.

In January 1997, Alexander Tarantsev, who headed Russian Gold, had a conflict with the owner of the Dolls club, Joseph Glotser. Sherstobitov, on the instructions of the Dusty, went on reconnaissance to a nightclub located on Krasnaya Presnya Street, where he killed Glozer with a shot in the temple. The next task of his group was to spy on Solonik, who, after escaping from the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center, lived in Greece. Sherstobitov's people recorded a telephone conversation in which Solonik uttered the phrase "They need to be brought down"... In these words, the Pylev brothers felt a threat to themselves. The killer of Solonik is considered Alexander Pustovalov (Sasha the soldier).

In 1998, on the basis of the distribution of business income, the Pylevs had a conflict with the president of the Russian Gold company, Alexander Tarantsev. Sherstobitov followed the businessman for almost four months and realized that he, having very professional security, was practically invulnerable. Sherstobitov built a remote-controlled device with a Kalashnikov assault rifle in the VAZ-2104. The car was installed at the exit from the office of "Russian Gold". Sherstobitov saw Tarantsev descending the steps on a special display and pressed the remote control button, but the device did not work. A burst of automatic weapons was heard only 2 hours later, the guard of the “Russian Gold” was killed by it, and two bystanders were injured. Tarantsev survived. He also tried more than once to kill the Orenburg thief-in-law Aliyev Astana, nicknamed "Ali", so in 2015 Aliyev's motorcade consisting of 7 cars was shot on the street. Donguzskaya, but then Aliyev survived, then Aliyev's bodyguards worked professionally and saved the life of their authority, after which Sherstobitov was pursued by the lads, but the Interior Ministry officers found him earlier than they did.

Arrest

The law enforcement agencies learned about Sherstobitov's existence only after the arrest of the Orekhovo-Medvedkovskaya leaders in 2003, when Oleg Pylev wrote a statement asking him to release him on his own recognizance with a promise find the "Soldier"who committed the murder of Otari Kvantrishvili and Glotser. During interrogations, ordinary militants spoke about a certain “Lesha-Soldier”, but no one knew either his last name or what he looked like. Investigators believed that "Lesha the Soldier" was a kind of mythical collective image. Sherstobitov himself was extremely careful: he did not communicate with ordinary bandits, did not participate in their gatherings. He was a master of conspiracy and reincarnation: going on business, he always used wigs, fake beards or mustaches. At the scene of the crime, Sherstobitov did not leave fingerprints, there were no witnesses.

Composition of the group:

Alexey Sherstobitov ("Soldier") - Senior Lieutenant of the Internal Service (convicted).
Sergey Chaplygin ("Chip") - Captain of the GRU MO (killed by his own people for drunkenness).
Alexander Pogorelov ("Sanchez") - Captain of the GRU MO (convicted).
Sergey Vilkov - captain of the Internal Troops (convicted).

Personal life

On June 9, 2016, Sherstobitov married in a penal colony in the Lipetsk region, where he is serving time. His wife was a 31-year-old female psychiatrist from St. Petersburg. Before the ceremony, the newlyweds arranged a photo session, for which they dressed in the costumes of gangsters from the times of Prohibition in the United States, the photos got into social networks, after which they were published in the Russian media. A registry office officer came to the colony. The registration procedure took place in the room of the deputy head of the educational department of the ITC

Moscow City Court verdicts

He was accused of committing 12 murders and attempted murders and more than 10 articles of the Criminal Code accompanying his activities.

First trial

Jury verdict of February 22, 2008 "Guilty, not worthy of leniency."
The verdict of the Moscow City Court of March 3, 2008 - 13 years of strict regime, judge A. I. Zubarev

Second trial

Jury verdict of September 24, 2008 - "Guilty, worthy of leniency"
The verdict of the Moscow City Court of September 29, 2008 - 23 years of strict regime. Judge P.E. Shtunder

The term of addition of sentences is 23 years of imprisonment in a strict regime colony with the abandonment of titles and awards.

At the trial, Sherstobitov said that he fully admits his guilt, but asked for leniency. In particular, he cited the following arguments in his defense: he refused to blow up 30 members of the Izmailovo group, saved the life of one entrepreneur without eliminating her, and after leaving the criminal community, he was engaged in a peaceful craft - he worked as a plasterer. Sherstobitov often went against the interests of the criminal community and its leaders, refusing and delaying the elimination of persons they disliked: V. Demenkov, G. Sotnikov, A. Polunin, T. Trifonova, including did not initiate an explosive device at the Vvedenskoye cemetery in Moscow , during the celebration of the anniversary of Shukhat's death there, which is confirmed by the materials of the criminal case (decree on refusal to initiate a criminal case dated June 25, 2007).

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing Sherstobitov, Alexey Lvovich

Rostov, blushing and turning pale, looked first at one, then at another officer.
- No, gentlemen, no ... you do not think ... I understand very much, you should not think so of me ... I ... for me ... I am for the honor of the regiment. So what? I will show it in practice, and for me the honor of the banner ... well, it's all the same, it's true, it's my fault! .. - Tears stood in his eyes. - I'm guilty, I'm guilty all around! ... Well, what else do you want? ...
“That's it, count,” the captain shouted, turning around, hitting him on the shoulder with his big hand.
- I told you, - Denisov shouted, - he is a nice guy.
“That's better, Count,” the captain repeated the headquarters, as if for his recognition he was beginning to call him a title. - Go and apologize, your Excellency, yes p.
“Gentlemen, I’ll do everything, no one will hear a word from me,” Rostov said in an imploring voice, “but I can’t apologize, by God, I cannot, as you want! How will I apologize, like a little one, ask for forgiveness?
Denisov laughed.
- You're worse off. Bogdanych is vindictive, pay for your stubbornness, - said Kirsten.
- By God, not stubbornness! I cannot describe to you what a feeling, I cannot ...
- Well, your will, - said the headquarters captain. - Well, where's this bastard? - he asked Denisov.
“He said he was sick, the breakfast was ordered to be excluded by order,” said Denisov.
- This is a disease, otherwise it cannot be explained, - said the headquarters captain.
- Well, there is no disease there, but do not catch my eye - I will kill! - Denisov shouted bloodthirsty.
Zherkov entered the room.
- How are you? The officers suddenly turned to the newcomer.
- Hike, gentlemen. Poppy surrendered with the army, completely.
- You're lying!
- I saw it myself.
- How? Did you see the poppy alive? with hands, with legs?
- Hike! Hike! Give him a bottle for such news. How did you get here?
- They sent him back to the regiment, for the devil, for Mac. The Austrian general complained. I congratulated him on Mack's arrival ... What are you, Rostov, exactly from the bath?
- Here, brother, we have such porridge the second day.
The regimental adjutant entered and confirmed the news brought by Zherkov. They were ordered to speak for tomorrow.
- Hike, gentlemen!
- Well, thank God, we sat too long.

Kutuzov retreated to Vienna, destroying the bridges on the rivers Inna (in Braunau) and Traun (in Linz). On October 23rd, Russian troops crossed the Ens River. Russian carts, artillery and columns of troops in the middle of the day stretched through the city of Enns, on this and on the other side of the bridge.
The day was warm, autumnal and rainy. The spacious perspective, opening from the dais, where the Russian batteries were standing, protecting the bridge, then suddenly covered with a muslin curtain of slanting rain, then suddenly expanded, and in the light of the sun, far and clearly objects became visible as if covered with varnish. The town was visible underfoot with its white houses and red roofs, a cathedral and a bridge, on both sides of which, crowding, poured masses of Russian troops. At the turn of the Danube one could see ships, an island, and a castle with a park, surrounded by the waters of the confluence of the Ens into the Danube, the left rocky and pine-covered bank of the Danube with a mysterious distance of green peaks and bluish gorges could be seen. The towers of the monastery were visible, protruding from behind a pine, seemingly untouched, wild forest; far ahead on the mountain, on the other side of Ens, the enemy patrols were visible.
Between the guns, at a height, stood in front the commander of the arier-guard, the general with the officer of the retinue, examining the terrain through the chimney. Somewhat behind, sat on the trunk of a gun, Nesvitsky, sent from the commander-in-chief to the arierguard.
The Cossack accompanying Nesvitsky handed him a purse and a flask, and Nesvitsky treated the officers to pies and real doppelkümel. The officers happily surrounded him, some on their knees, some sitting in Turkish on the wet grass.
- Yes, this Austrian prince was not a fool who built a castle here. Nice place. What are you not eating, gentlemen? - said Nesvitsky.
- I humbly thank you, prince, - answered one of the officers, talking with pleasure with such an important staff official. - Beautiful place. We passed the park itself, saw two deer, and what a wonderful house!
“Look, prince,” said another, who really wanted to take another pie, but was ashamed, and who therefore pretended to be looking around the area, “look, our infantrymen have already got there. Over there, on a meadow, behind the village, three are dragging something. "They're going to take this palace," he said with visible approval.
- And then, and then, - said Nesvitsky. “No, but what I would wish for,” he added, chewing a pie in his beautiful wet mouth, “is to get over there.
He pointed to a monastery with towers on the mountain. He smiled, his eyes narrowed and lit up.
- But it would be good, gentlemen!
The officers laughed.
- If only to scare these nuns. Italians say there are young ones. Indeed, I would give five years of my life!
“They’re bored, after all,” said the bolder officer, laughing.
Meanwhile the officer of the suite, standing in front, was pointing something out to the general; the general looked through the telescope.
- Well, it is, it is, - the general said angrily, lowering the receiver from his eyes and shrugging his shoulders, - it is so, they will start hitting the crossing. And why are they lingering there?
On the other side, the enemy and his battery were visible with the naked eye, from which a milky white smoke appeared. A long-range shot rang out in the wake of the smoke, and it was clear how our troops hurried across the crossing.
Nesvitsky, panting, got up and, smiling, went up to the general.
- Would you like to have a snack for your Excellency? - he said.
- It's not a good thing, - said the general, without answering him, - ours hesitated.
- Shouldn't I go, Your Excellency? - said Nesvitsky.
“Yes, go, please,” the general said, repeating what had already been ordered in detail, “and tell the hussars to cross the last and light the bridge as I ordered, so that the combustible materials on the bridge are still examined.
“Very well,” answered Nesvitsky.
He called a Cossack with a horse, ordered to remove his purse and flask and easily threw his heavy body onto the saddle.
“Really, I'll stop by the nuns,” he said to the officers, who looked at him with a smile, and drove along the winding path downhill.
- Noot ka, where he will report, captain, stop ka! - said the general, referring to the gunner. - Get rid of boredom.
- Servant to the guns! - commanded the officer.
And a minute later the gunners merrily ran out of the fires and loaded them.
- First! - the command was heard.
The 1st number jumped briskly. Metallically, deafening, the gun rang, and over the heads of all our people under the mountain, whistling, a grenade flew and, not reaching the enemy far, showed the place of its fall with a smoke and burst.
The faces of the soldiers and officers cheered at the sound; everyone got up and began to observe the movements, visible, as in the palm of your hand, below our troops and in front - the movements of the approaching enemy. The sun at that very moment completely came out of the clouds, and this beautiful sound of a lonely shot and the glitter of the bright sun merged into one cheerful and cheerful impression.

Two enemy cannonballs had already flown over the bridge, and there was a crush on the bridge. In the middle of the bridge, getting off his horse, pressed by his thick body to the railing, stood Prince Nesvitsky.
He, laughing, looked back at his Cossack, who, with two horses in the bit, stood a few steps behind him.
As soon as Prince Nesvitsky wanted to move forward, again the soldiers and carts pressed on him and again pressed him to the railing, and he had no choice but to smile.
- What you, brother, my! - said the Cossack to the Furshtat soldier with a wagon, who was pressing on the infantry crowded with wheels and horses, - what are you! No, to wait: you see, the general must pass.
But the furshtat, not paying attention to the name of the general, shouted at the soldiers who blocked his way: - Hey! fellow countrywomen! keep left, wait! - But fellow countrywomen, huddling shoulder to shoulder, clinging with bayonets and without interruption, moved across the bridge in one continuous mass. Looking down over the railing, Prince Nesvitsky saw fast, noisy, low waves of Ens, which, merging, rippling and bending around the piles of the bridge, overtook one another. Looking at the bridge, he saw the equally monotonous living waves of soldiers, kutases, shako with covers, knapsacks, bayonets, long rifles and from under shako faces with wide cheekbones, sunken cheeks and carefree tired expressions and moving legs along sticky mud drawn on the bridge boards ... Sometimes between the monotonous waves of soldiers, like a splash of white foam in the waves of Ens, an officer in a cloak squeezed between the soldiers, with his physiognomy different from the soldiers; sometimes, like a splinter winding along a river, a foot hussar, a batman or a resident was carried away across the bridge by waves of infantry; sometimes, like a log floating on a river, surrounded on all sides, a company or officer's carriage, laid to the top and covered with leather, sailed across the bridge.
“See, they burst like a dam,” the Cossack said, hopelessly stopping. - How many of you are still there?
- Melion without one! - a cheerful soldier walking close by in a torn greatcoat said with a wink and was hiding; another old soldier walked behind him.
- How he (he is the enemy) will begin to fry taperich across the bridge, - said the gloomy old soldier, addressing his comrade, - you will forget to scratch.
And the soldier passed by. Another soldier followed him in a cart.
- Where, the devil, did you stuff the rolls? Said the orderly, running after the cart and groping in the rear.
And this one passed with a cart. This was followed by cheerful and, apparently, drunk soldiers.
“How can he, my dear man, blaze with a butt in the very teeth…” said one soldier in a high-tucked greatcoat, waving his hand widely.
- That is it, that sweet ham. - answered the other with a laugh.
And they passed, so that Nesvitsky did not recognize who had been hit in the teeth and what the ham belonged to.
- Ek are in a hurry that he let the cold one, and you think they will kill everyone. Said the non-commissioned officer angrily and reproachfully.
- As it flies past me, uncle, the core is, - said, barely holding back from laughing, with a huge mouth, a young soldier, - I just died. Really, by God, I was so frightened, trouble! Said the soldier, as if bragging that he was frightened. And this one passed. He was followed by a wagon unlike any that had passed so far. It was a German foreskin on steam, loaded with what seemed to be a whole house; behind the foreskin, which the German was carrying, was tied to a beautiful, motley, with a huge udder, cow. On the feather beds sat a woman with a baby, an old woman and a young, red-faced, healthy German girl. Apparently, these evicted residents were allowed through by special permission. The eyes of all the soldiers turned to the women, and as the wagon passed, moving step by step, and all the remarks of the soldiers referred to only two women. On all faces there was almost the same smile of obscene thoughts about this woman.
- Look, the sausage is also removed!
“Sell your mother,” another soldier said, striking on the last syllable, addressing the German, who, with lowered eyes, was walking angrily and frightenedly with a wide step.
- Ek got away like! Then the devils!
“I wish you could stand by them, Fedotov.
- We did, brother!
- Where are you going? Asked the infantry officer, who was eating an apple, also half smiling and looking at the beautiful girl.
The German closed his eyes and showed that he did not understand.
“If you want, take it for yourself,” the officer said, giving the girl an apple. The girl smiled and took it. Nesvitsky, like everyone else on the bridge, did not take his eyes off the women until they passed. When they passed, the same soldiers were walking again, with the same conversations, and finally everyone stopped. As is often the case, at the exit of the bridge, the horses in the company carriage got stuck, and the whole crowd had to wait.
- And what do they become? There is no order! - said the soldiers. - Where are you going? Damn! There is no way to wait. It will be worse when he sets fire to the bridge. You see, they've pinned the officer too, - said the stopped crowds from different sides, looking at each other, and they all huddled forward towards the exit.