Russian tried to board plane in UK with guns
A RUSSIAN businessman tried to board a plane at Heathrow with three guns in his hand luggage.
Arkadiy Rachkov, 48, who has campaigned against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, attempted to board a flight to Cyprus earlier this month with three Beretta-style air pistols. One was loaded.
Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of Putin in a noose and a Ukrainian flag, he told officers he is worth £100million and wanted to help the invaded nation.
He has admitted three counts of possessing dangerous items at an airport.
The tycoon, who lives in a £20million mansion in Surrey, claimed he had already “spent millions supporting Ukraine”, according to Crown Prosecution Service documents seen by the Sunday Express.
Rachkov claimed that he was taking the three weapons “for fun” to
Larnaca in Cyprus, where he was set to meet fellow Ukraine backers.
After his arrest he told officers he has £100million in the bank and has spent months, “supporting Ukraine with equipment, vehicles, funds”.
A director of a financial management firm, Rachkov allegedly had three guns in an otherwise empty laptop bag which were detected by x-ray scanners at Heathrow’s Terminal Five.
Officers arrived and confirmed the items were realistic-looking air weapons of a
Beretta style – two coloured matt black and one in silvery white metal.
During the search the silver gun was found to be loaded with six pellets, and a gas canister was fitted to the inside of the handle.
Stamps in Rachkov’s UK passport showed he had undertaken multiple trips between Britain and Larnaca, Istanbul and Vilnius in Lithuania in the last two months.
Officers said Rachkov appeared not to understand that being in possession of the guns on an aircraft is a serious matter, and believed that it was akin to taking a bottle of water on board.
He repeated his claim to be, “sending items of use to Ukraine through people he was working with”.
Rachkov – who could be jailed if convicted – later gave a “no comment” interview at Heathrow police station with his solicitor present.
His mansion is near the exclusive St George’s Hill estate golf course in Weybridge, as well as the picturesque Surrey Hills.
The upmarket enclave was once the home of John Lennon and Ringo Starr but has more recently become home to some of Britain’s wealthiest Russians. His four-storey house, bought for £12million in 2011, has an indoor swimming pool, gym, cinema and wine bar.
Rachkov is due to appear at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on August 15 for a Newton hearing.
This is when the defendant has pleaded guilty but on the basis of a different version of the facts from those set out by the prosecution.
The court will then decide if this makes a difference to the sentence.