The well-known Russian businessman Ilia Trumper was arrested in connection with an investigation involving a death contract murder, Russian media broadcast today. There was no official confirmation of the publications and the company associated with Trumper did not respond directly to a request to comment on the matter.
The age 75 Trumper has been a leading figure of the business world for decades in the city of St. Petersburg where it invested in ports and logistics infrastructure. The local instrument Fontanka says the investigation is underway in Trumper's properties and that one of his associates was also arrested. He also says the investigation is linked to the murder of businessman and politician Alexander Petrov in 2020.
The Interfax news agency citing a source of the order enforcement forces, also broadcast, that the arrest is linked to an old murder case. The Mash news channel that has contacts with police and security services, says the investigation concerns a death contract.
Sources told Russian media that Traber, who has reported ties to Vladimir Putin, is targeted of being involved in the Murder of a businessman and politician in 2022.https://t.co/KKNzuNdCdB— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) June 17, 2026
According to corporate records in 2025 Trumper held 31.7% of Primorsk, the deepest port in the Baltic. Port authorities did not respond directly to a request for commentary.
The port of Primorsk is still under construction and is designed to manage loads of up to 65 million tonnes per year including minerals, coal and grain. It will be able to accept deep-water cargo ships (ships carrying huge cargo volumes) and is intended to be one of the starting ports of Russia's Arctic Sea Route promoted by President Vladimir Putin.
Trumper began to become known in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when he gained control of St Petersburg's seaport and oil terminal, at a time when Putin was deputy mayor in the city's administration.
The Kremlin has previously denied the existence of any friendly or business relationship between Trumper and Putin.