Arkadiy Baryshev

Boem · April 23, 2021

Arkadiy Baryshev
Arkadiy Baryshev was born in Volgograd, Russia on October 27, 1996 as the twin brother of Igor Baryshev. Their parents are Mikhail Baryshev (b. 1969) and Milena Barysheva (nee Antonova) (b. 1972). Baryshev's father was an electrician originally from Engels, Russia. His father is of entirely Russian ancestry and his mother is Russian of distantly mixed lineage. His mother has distant Caucasus Jewish heritage that can be traced back to Northern Azerbaijan in the 18th century. His mother’s family has a traceable history in the Volgograd region that dates back to Medieval Russia. During the Second World War, two of his great-grandfathers died while defending the city from the invading German Army.

Early life

During the 1990s and 2000s, the Baryshev family were impacted by the economic decline and recovery in Volgograd. They lived in the Dzerzhinskiy Rayon, which at the time was affected by poverty, urban blight, unemployment and criminality. This crime primarily involved local gangs, drug activity and homicides. Questioning his family’s future in Russia, and desiring better payment for his profession, the elder Mikhail planned their emigration to the U.S. as early as 2002. Mikhail had already traveled to other countries such as Poland, Germany and Sweden as a guest worker electrician for higher paying jobs. He did this over several consecutive summers, which meant that his children weren't seeing him for a few months out of the year. When the Baryshev twins were 12 in 2008, their family directly emigrated to the United States from Volgograd, Russia. They settled in San Fierro, SA.

The Baryshev twins lived in Doherty, San Fierro while attending JR High and High Schools in Doherty and Hashbury. Their father Mikhail obtained employment as a commercial electrician at the Easter Basin and the San Fierro International Airport, continuing to support the family with his skilled trade. From 2009 - 2013, A. Baryshev was heavily involved with youth sports at his attended schools. Most notably, he was an accomplished wrestler at Doherty Central JR High School and transitioned into boxing within the Doherty community during his high school years. In 2012, at age 16, A. Baryshev competed in a local boxing tournament for amateur youth boxers in San Fierro. He won his first city championship against ex-light welterweight city champion, 19 year old Ronald Zhao. During the final two years spent at P. H. McCarthy Memorial High School in Hashbury, A. Baryshev played varsity gridiron football for the school's team, the Gators, as a linebacker. A. Baryshev graduated from high school with honors in 2013, aged 17.

Involvement with San Andreas organized crime
Following his high school graduation, A. Baryshev remained involved with the San Fierro boxing community for years. In 2015, he traveled to both Seattle, WA and Los Santos, SA to participate in regional boxing tournaments in the U.S. Pacific. In both tournaments, he was disqualified while in the intermediate and semi-final matches. He remained competitively boxing until he was forced to quit in 2016, at age 20. His forced quitting came after his doctor and other physicians raised concerns that his multiple concussions, spanning several years, were a threat to his health. A. Baryshev remained active within San Fierro's athletic community regardless, finding employment within corporate gyms as a personal trainer. Additionally, he was recruited as a nightclub bouncer by David Utkin, a career criminal with lengthy history in the Los Santos nightlife scene. A. Baryshev and his twin I. Baryshev, first got involved with Utkin's criminal activities over several months. They sold narcotics such as cocaine and anabolic steroids while also selling illegal firearms. These illegal materials were sold off to other criminals and gangbangers around San Fierro. These criminal activities continued for a number of years.

Inspired by Los Santos during his 2015 boxing tournament, and promised by Utkin that the city was better for employment and crime, A. Baryshev moved to Los Santos, SA with his brother I. Baryshev in 2020. The twin brothers lived in Alta together before re-locating around Los Santos to Vespucci and Little Seoul. While living in Los Santos, they worked alongside David Utkin and were eventually recruited into the Vinewood Bouncers, owned by Iosif Blumkin and Matei Popescu. While working for this company, I. Baryshev was invited by an uncle, Vasily Baryshev, to help manage his computer repair shop in Miami, FL. Moving to the tropical east coast to help a recently emigrated relative appealed to I. Baryshev, and he departed Los Santos with little notice in 2021. This has left his twin brother back in Los Santos while working in an increasingly unappealing industry that's plagued with corruption and criminality.

Edited August 30, 2021 by Boem