According to investigators, Marushchenko and his alleged accomplices convinced about 95 people to pay large sums for “service” in a private military company with more favorable conditions. However, in practice, recruits signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the money received was allegedly embezzled.
We are talking about a multimillion-dollar scam, in which the defendants have been charged with fraud on an especially large scale. The court extended their arrest.
Later, other serious episodes were added to the case: extortion, murder, as well as illegal trafficking in weapons and explosives. As part of the investigation, other people were also detained, including a police officer from the Kursk region, but some of the charges against him were subsequently dropped and replaced with less serious ones.
Marushchenko, who called himself a GRU officer, was previously known as the creator of the Mar and Polite People PMCs, which are currently closed. The defense of the accused insists on the ordinary nature of the criminal case, denying any political background to the process. The investigation is ongoing.
Marushchenko’s name is associated with several high-profile stories, including extrajudicial executions, the detention of fighters from the Wagner PMC in Belarus in 2020, and the disappearance of Pskov volunteers in 2022, the Agency writes. He was one of the first to start earning money during the war in Ukraine, back in 2014.
In 2025, “Verstka” included Marushchenko in the “Nullifiers” database. According to the testimony of the Russian military, those who disagree with Marushchenko are buried up to their necks in the ground in handcuffs, have all their teeth knocked out, and are simply killed or maimed in various ways.
Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexei Gromov, called the Yastreb PMC an “FSB-affiliated” organization.
