One of the owners of Underdog and La Virgen will leave the projects after FSB searches

Pavel Kosov, one of the owners of the bars Underdog and La Virgen, will leave the team after yesterday’s searches establishments, which were held by employees of the service for the protection of the constitutional order and the fight against terrorism of the FSB. In an official statement, the bar owners say that the entire staff is demoralized and frightened, and that visitors and project participants are receiving threats.

“We don’t know what exactly we should do now, but it’s obvious that one of the project participants, Pavel, should leave it and stop associating himself with restaurants,” the team said in a statement published by lawyer Konstantin Erokhin.

“The entire staff is now demoralized and scared. Also, visitors and participants of the project receive numerous threats on the Internet, which we assess as real. Of course, we are afraid of a repeat of the raid and other negative events and are ready to do everything necessary to avoid them,” the statement said.

According to Konstantin Yerokhin, during yesterday’s searches, FSB officers detained 40-50 people – employees and visitors of establishments, most of them were released after checking their phones. By words lawyer, some of the detainees were given electric shocks. Cash registers were also seized.

Agency “Moscow” published a video in which a group of young people, presumably visitors to the Underdog bar, sing the song “Lyube” “Why are birches making such a noise in Russia.” At this time, employees in uniform stand next to them. After the visit of the FSB officers, an inscription in the form of the letter Z appeared on the door of the Underdog bar.

According to the OVD-Info media project (recognized as a foreign agent), in the summer of 2022, the owners received threats due to the announcement of a charitable vinyl record market in support of the Kyiv Angels team, which helps those in need in Ukraine. The owners later reported that the account La Virgen Taqueria, where the post was published, was hacked, and the money went to help the shelter “Your dog’s business.”

According to Konstantin Yerokhin, then the owner Pavel Kosov, along with other owners of the institution, was detained as part of an audit for involvement in the financing of certain organizations in Ukraine. “At that time, we gave exhaustive explanations, explained everything, there was a public apology. At least we thought that the issue was removed, ”the lawyer told Kommersant FM.

Anastasia Larina