Could the death of the owner of Castle Entertainment mean that there is a possibility of retributions by his associates to any other such establishments ?

Could this also suggest that this is not the right to visit any such establishments for a short while ?

The Russian, strippers and politicians

May 31 2007 at 11:45AM

By Norman Joseph and Candice Bailey

Police are set to question several Cape Town politicians in connection with the death of Yuri 'The Russian' Ulianitski.

The local politicians are on a long list of Ulianitski's alleged partners-in-crime, and also his known enemies, which police are investigating.

Ulianitski - one of the city's most feared underworld figures - died in a hail of bullets during a late night ambush in Milnerton on Tuesday. He was hit 20 times in his chest and his four-year-old daughter, Yulia, died after being shot in the head.

His wife Irina was shot four times and is in a stable condition at the Milnerton Medi-Clinic.

Police sources have told the Cape Argus that several city politicians are alleged to have dealt with his bidding for several multi-million rand property deals up for grabs in the city area.

Sources have confirmed that Ulianitski had an interest in buying buildings in the city's CBD.

Police who are following up on the long list of his known enemies, just one avenue in the complex investigation, are probing speculation that his politician friends were apparently trying to help him buy these buildings.

It is understood that the relationship between Ulianitski and the politicians had soured after they had reneged on a deal to deliver tenders.

Police sources say that before his death, he had allegedly threatened to make public the names of the politicians he had been dealing with.

The sources, however, were reticent about naming the politicians.

Ulianitski, dubbed 'Yuri The Russian', was owner of The Castle strip club in Castle Street which employed women from Russia, China and other countries.

Ulianitski, who came to South Africa from the Ukraine, also owned a kick-boxing club in Cape Town and recently opened a cage fighting gym.

He lived at The Bay near Table View and was believed to have been going home from a restaurant when his Audi Q7 4x4 was attacked at the intersection of Otto du Plessis Drive and Loxton Road by the occupants of a white Toyota Tazz.

Police sources yesterday said that Ulianitski 'had lots of enemies'. He had been convicted of illegal gambling.

He was also a long-time associate of disgraced former racehorse owner and fashion boss Mark Lifman. Lifman was banned for life from the horse racing industry after he and Ulianitski assaulted veteran jockey Freddie Macaskill when he refused to fix a race.

Ulianitski is said to have had close links with a General Dos Santos of Angola, who funded him to the tune of millions in return for 'favours'.

He arrived in South Africa in the early 1980s as part of a Russian team of kick-boxers. The South African government at the time requested him to stay behind and train South African fighters.

Ulianitski later started a security company with controversial businessman Cyril Beeka in Cape Town.

The pair also opened several nightclubs along the Atlantic seaboard and the city's central business district in the 1990s.

Ulianitski had a long history of brushes with the law.

At the time of his death he had been out on
R30 000 bail in connection with allegations of conspiracy to kidnap, possession of illegal firearms and drugs and other offences.

The Russian lived by the sword

May 31 2007 at 04:45AM

By Aziz Hartley and Karen Breytenbach

As news of alleged underworld kingpin Yuri Ulianitski's murder spread like wildfire and sparked speculation about who had ordered the hit, his former associates distanced themselves from him - except one, a city councillor, who said his death was no surprise.

Africa Muslim Party councillor Badih Chabaan said: 'Ulianitski was my friend. We knew one other for years, ever since he came to South Africa, and he worked for me more than once.

'Ulianitski lived a precarious life. And if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. I can't speculate and I don't think even his family knows why he was taken out like this. But I'm not at all surprised he got killed,' Chabaan said.

He was speaking as police launched a manhunt for the killers, who had sprayed Ulianitski's luxury vehicle with bullets as he returned home from a Milnerton restaurant with his family on Tuesday evening.

Police spokesperson Billy Jones said 21 spent cartridges were found. Ulianitski was shot several times. His four-year-old daughter, Yulia, was killed with a single shot to the head.

Ulianitski's wife Irina was wounded in the leg, side and stomach.

She was admitted to a private hospital where she was under heavy guard, arranged by her family, on Wednesday night.

Ulianitski owned the Castle Adult Entertainment Club in Castle Street in the city centre.

He was arrested in April for allegedly conspiring to kidnap and for possession of illegal firearms and drugs, was released on R30 000 bail and was ordered to stay away from several witnesses.

An intelligence source said it was 'very possible' the murder was connected to the case.

'The irony is, when Yuri was released, everyone expected the witnesses to be in danger. No one thought Yuri would be a target.

'But it's hard to say who did it - he had enemies all over the place. He had links to most crime bosses in the city and on the Cape Flats, but they did not necessarily like one another.'

Another source said Ulianitski had probably been killed by a Cape Flats gang or east East European mafia.

A former journalist, who asked not to be named and who has investigated Cape Town's underworld, said whoever ordered the murder wanted to warn other crime bosses.

He alleged that Ulianitski headed the Russian mafia. The Hand Livings gang, the Moroccans and a private security company fell under his umbrella.

In the late 1990s, Yuri ran a protection racket in Long and Loop streets, Green Point and, later, Table View.

'Yuri and his men used to tell restaurateurs and club owners that if they did not use their bouncers, for say R1 500 a week, there would be trouble. If they refused, Yuri would send in guys to assault the owner, staff or customers...

'They took over more than 30 places. Typically, they would put a Moroccan bouncer at the door and move in their own drug deal,' the ex-reporter said.

Speaking on strict condition that their names would not be published, other people who knew Ulianitski told how his henchmen harassed or intimidated city nightclub owners.

'It became common knowledge on the streets how people were taught a lesson. There is also a story about the way he acquired the Castle Street premises. It was up for auction and he was among the bidders. If someone bid higher than him, his bodyguard told them to leave,' a city man said.

Another source said Ulianitski and Mark Lifman, a former racehorse owner given a life ban for participation in horse racing after he initiated and threatened jockeys to fix race results, had regular meetings at Lifman's home.

Contacted, Lifman said: 'I don't have any comment to make. You must speak to the people who gave you information. I've got nothing to say.'

Former Ulianitski associate Cyril Beeka said: 'I don't know why you are asking me about his death. I have known the gentleman, but I've been out of Cape Town for the past six years. I've got nothing to say except that it is a tragic incident. It is terrible for anyone to be killed like that.'

A Long Street restaurateur confirmed that Ulianitski had intimidated club and restaurant owners in the late 1990s.

'It died down when police clamped down on crime in the city. Yuri also kept a low profile over the past few years. I think he made enough money on other ventures not to worry about protector racketeering any more,' she said.

Yuri 'the Russian' shot dead

One of Cape Town's most feared underworld figures, Yuri 'The Russian' Ulianitski, is dead, riddled with 20 bullets in a late-night ambush that also killed his four-year-old daughter, Yulia.

According to police sources Ulianitski's wife, Irina, 38, was rushed to the Milnerton Medi-Clinic where by midday her condition was described as no longer life threatening.

Ulianitski, 39, owned The Castle strip club in the city street of the same name, and had a long history of brushes with the law.

At the time of his murder on Tuesday night, he was out on bail of R30 000 in connection with allegations of conspiracy to kidnap, possession of illegal firearms and drugs and other offences.

Police said the family was attacked by the occupants of a white Toyota Tazz in Milnerton.

The ambush happened at about 10.30pm at the intersection of Otto du Plessis Drive and Loxton Road, which runs from Milnerton's business district over Woodbridge Island towards the Atlantic coast.

Ulianitski was driving in a midnight-black Audi Q7 4x4 valued at more than R500 000.

Mark Stokoe, a spokesperson for Netcare 911 ambulance service, said: 'Netcare 911 crew members were en route to a call when they came across an incident.

'What first appeared to have been an accident, with flashing lights lighting up the intersection, turned out to be a multiple shooting incident.

'The driver of the vehicle was still in the car. He had been shot in the chest and had several bullet wounds on initial assessment.'

It was later discovered that Ulianitski had been hit 20 times.

'The woman (Ulianitski's wife), who is believed to have been a passenger, was outside the vehicle. She had been shot four times and was in critical condition,' Stokoe said.

It is believed that the child was rushed to hospital in a private vehicle and the adult victims were taken by Netcare 911 ambulance.

'Medical staff have been able to confirm that the adult male victim and the child have both died due to the injuries sustained in the shooting.'

Hospital staff would not comment on the condition of Ulianitski's wife early on Wednesday.

It is understood that victims were taken to two hospitals, Netcare's private hospital on the West Coast road in Sunningdale, and Milnerton Medi-Clinic.

Stokoe said trauma counsellors had been sent to assist grieving relatives at the hospitals.

Police spokesperson Billy Jones said on Wednesday morning that the family had been heading home to Table View from a nearby restaurant.

He said the driver, who he declined to name, had been hit in the chest, stomach and legs, and his wife, sitting in front next to him, had been hit in the side and legs.

Their daughter had been hit with a single bullet to her head.

Jones said the killers were still at large. The motive was not yet known, but 'we are not excluding the possibility that the attack was a direct hit on the victims' lives'.

A police source told the Cape Argus that Ulianitski had recently visited Johannesburg for a few days, and that he and his wife had plans to move overseas.

The source also said that Ulianitski had been followed by a white Tazz for the past few days.

The victims' names would not be released until the driver's wife had been told of his and the child's death.

But the dead man was identified as Ulianitski by other senior sources.

When Ulianitski was arrested in April with Ilian Fishkin, 39, of Parklands, after a sting operation, the State opposed bail, saying he had been convicted of illegal gambling and that a case involving charges of failing to safeguard a firearm was pending against him.

Ulianitski, a Ukrainian immigrant given citizenship, was held in custody until April 10, when he finally made bail. He was a long-time associate of former racehorse owner and fashion boss Mark Lifman. In 2001, the Jockey Club banned Lifman from racing for life. In November 2000, Lifman and Ulianitski were charged with assaulting a jockey who allegedly refused to fix a race.

Been to 'The Ranch' tonight ... Many girls left. For those knowing the venue ... Only the following 4 of the recent girls still there:

Kendrah
Lola
Isabella
Roxanne

... plus 3 Russian girls from Yuri the Russian's 'Castle'. I'd say only one of the 3 Russians are good looking ... Think her name is 'Natasha'

Was Yuri involved in The Ranch too ?

Nope ... The Ranch has no connection with Yuri.

The Ranch's owner is Chris. Sole operator and been in the business for many years ...

im sure Selebi had some connection with Yuri somewhere somehow lol

With Yuri one certainly saw karma in action, by all accounts as nice a guy as he was, he is was without a doubt a psychopath, Who is alleged to have killed and maimed many people in his life time.

Its like the wild west, someday, a guy will come to town who draws his gun faster,is meaner has no compunction and the result, Yuri getting some hot lead injection. A feared seemly untouchable man, 'TOUCHED'

My take on this is that he was taken down by some cape flats gang, They are the only one's who have the balls to pull shit like this. To kill his daughter and try to kill his wife, it takes some pretty evil minded fuck heads to come up with something like that.

Dropped in at The Castle early one evening last week. I like the place and it is a big favoutite of a mate. Only 2 girls there (Angeline - a bottle blond with a pretty face) and another blonde. The heavy (the Bulgarian, Fishkin?) was sitting at a table in the regulation black leather jacket. Did not look like a guy you want to spill your drink on!
Then I got to thinking, maybe they want to take him out, too. And whover else is there. Who wants to get shot in The Castle? At least, I would not be around to have to explain myself. I split, but will be back. 'Those russioan girls make me sing and shout,that Georgia's always on my mind'.