The Solntsevskaya gang was founded in
Russian SFSR in the late 1980s by
Sergei Mikhailov, a former
waiter who had served a prison term for fraud, and Viktor Averin. Based in the
Solntsevo District of
Moscow, the gang recruited local unemployed,
aggressive young men as
foot soldiers and also made use of
thief in law Dzhemal Khachidze to enhance their reputation amongst established criminals. The Solntsevo District was also strategically located near the
M3 highway leading to
Ukraine, the
MKAD, Moscow's ring road, as well as the
Vnukovo International Airport. Controlling these transport hubs allowed the Solntsevo group to muscle in on the car import business. But by the early 1990s, the Solntsevo's dominance was challenged by the
Chechen mafia. Together with the
Orekhovskaya gang and other Slavic mobs, the Solntsevo made an alliance to drive the Chechens out. The gang war claimed many casualties, such as a gun battle at the Kazakhstan Cinema where six Chechens and four Russians were killed. After the
Soviet Union collapsed, the gang utilized the chaos to empower themselves by establishing relationships with politicians. They were now able to influence the Russian state for their own benefit. They also bought several legitimate businesses to launder their money including banks, casinos, and even the Vnukovo airport. The gang was at one point linked to criminal mastermind
Semion Mogilevich, through whom they laundered money. But a 1995 party at a Prague hotel, attended by Mikhailov as well as Uzbek drug trafficker
Gafur Rakhimov, was raided by Czech police who received information that they were planning to kill Mogilevich there following a dispute. Mogilevich himself was nowhere to be found, having received advance information about both groups' intentions. By the end of the 1990s, the Solntsevskaya gang started moving into the banking sector, a move which enabled them to launder their money as well as get closer to the
oligarchs. ==Activity overseas==