From high-profile corruption investigations to fighting wardrobe thefts: Sergei Novikov of "Sechin’s special forces" took over security at the Bolshoi Theatre
17:04, 16 июня 2026 г.
Former Investigative Committee officer for "high-profile cases," member of "Sechin’s special forces" Sergei Novikov now works … at the Bolshoi Theatre. Our sources who have dealt with Novikov express their deep condolences to the troupe and staff of the Bolshoi.
Novikov previously handled the case of ticket speculation for performances at the Bolshoi.
Several sources of our project have reported that the "big-case investigator" Novikov is now at the Bolshoi. "He is, of course, in a related field – he has taken over as head of the Bolshoi’s Security Service, but still… As an investigator, he talked to everyone like characters from the TV series ’Real Boys.’ I don’t think anything has changed…," one of our sources noted.
Novikov "gained fame" for handling the case against a group of officers from the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption (GUEBiPK) and the former head of the Directorate, Denis Sugrobov. He also investigated the case of embezzlement during the reconstruction of the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, as well as many other cases – mostly those whose operational support was provided by subordinates of Ivan Tkachev, who previously headed the 6th Service of the FSB’s Internal Security Directorate and later became head of the FSB’s "K" Directorate. Tkachev, no matter how much he distances himself now, has always been one of the commanders of "Sechin’s special forces," and Novikov was one of its prominent "fighters."
Among his cases was also the high-profile investigation into ticket speculation for top Bolshoi performances. It was impossible to buy them in open sale, yet tickets were freely sold on various websites with markups of hundreds of percent. However, only the "fall guys" (the creators of the ticket-selling websites) ended up in court; no one from the Bolshoi itself faced charges.
After leaving the Investigative Committee, Novikov was immediately hired by the Security Service of Rosneft, and now he has ended up at the Bolshoi.
