Two people were killed during a shooting out at the main office of Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, in Moscow on September 18, marking the latest development in the ongoing dispute between CEO and founder Tatiana Bakalchuk and her estranged husband, Vladislav.

According to the company, the shooting began when a group led by Vladislav Bakalchuk attempted to forcibly enter the company's office, as part of what appears to be a growing power struggle between the Bakalchuks. 

Russian law enforcement officials reported that two police officers were injured, and approximately 30 individuals were detained. Additionally, the Russian state-run news agency TASS reported that a Wildberries security guard was killed during the incident. According to the Telegram channel Shot, seven people were wounded in the shooting, including a "colleague of Bakalchuk," who had accompanied him to the office.

The shooting occurred at the marketplace office located in the Romanov Dvor business centre in central Moscow, that is two blocks from the Kremlin and Red Square.

According to Vladislav Bakalchuk, the incident started when his team was attacked by a violent group while his associates were trying to negotiate the halt of a warehouse construction project. A video shared by the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Mash captured the scene, showing a scuffle outside the office, followed by gunfire and shouting.

Tatiana Bakalchuk, Russia's wealthiest woman, denied these claims, stating that no such negotiations had been scheduled. According to the CEO, the company contacted law enforcement after her ex-husband attempted to take over the company by seizing the office, which she described as a failed hostile takeover attempt.

"The claim of supposed negotiations attended by an armed group is absurd since no negotiations were arranged. I publicly urge law enforcement to take control of this situation... This is now a hostile takeover attempt. Or rather, a failed one," she wrote on Telegram.

In a comment to Fontanka, Vladislav Bakalchuk denied that his team was responsible for the violence, referring to the shooting as an "attempted murder" against him. He stated that he had already given his testimony to the police.

The dispute between the former couple began in June, when Wildberries announced its plans to merge with the billboard company Russ Group to form a new digital trading platform called RWB. The proposed merger was opposed by Tatiana Bakalchuk’s husband, Vladislav, who publicly stated that he wanted to block the deal. This disagreement escalated, ultimately leading Tatiana, the CEO, to file for divorce from her now ex-husband. The divorce was finalised in August. Since its inception, the e-commerce giant has been managed by Tatiana Bakalchuk, who holds a 99% stake in the company, while her husband, Vladislav Bakalchuk, owns just 1%. However, Vladislav claims that, since there was no prenuptial agreement or marriage contract, all assets should be split 50:50 under Russian divorce laws.

Critics have raised doubts about the benefits of the merger, given Wildberries' significantly larger size compared to Russ Group, leading to speculation that the merger might be part of a wartime redistribution of assets benefiting Kremlin-linked figures. Citing unnamed sources, the business outlet Forbes suggested that Tatiana Bakalchuk feared difficulties with law enforcement and regulatory authorities following a fire at a Wildberries warehouse near St. Petersburg, and that Russ representatives "helped resolve the issue in exchange for a stake in the business." Other media reports, including those from the Russian independent outlet Proekt, speculated that Bakalchuk decided to merge Wildberries with Russ after an affair with the company’s executive director, Robert Mirzoyan. Mirzoyan is reportedly due to receive a senior position at RWB. 

The dispute between the Bakalchuks became even more complicated when Vladislav Bakalchuk publicly sought assistance from Chechen strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who supported him. Reports from Mash indicate that the associates who accompanied Vladislav Bakalchuk to the office were all Chechens, most of them from the Akhmat Fight Club, founded by Kadyrov. Mash also reports that among the injured were MMA fighters Abubakar Mestoev, Umar Chichaev, and Russian heavyweight boxing champion Rashid Kodzev.

The shooting and alleged attempted takeover of the business harken back to the turbulent 1990s, when business disputes in Moscow were frequently settled through violence, and, at times, murder. One of the most notable cases was the murder of American expatriate businessman Paul Tatum in November 1996, following a conflict with his Chechen joint venture partner, Umar Dzhabrailov. Tatum's hotel group managed several international brands, and in 1995, he was barred from entering the Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel by his estranged partners as they vied for control of the business. Tatum responded by placing a full-page ad in a Moscow newspaper, accusing Dzhabrailov of blackmail and attempting to force him out of the joint venture. Just weeks later, Tatum was assassinated, shot 11 times in the head and neck. Following his death, Dzhabrailov and the Moscow city government assumed control of the hotel.