1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Media. 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 2: Something strange is going on. Another member of the Russian 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 2: elite has been found dead. 4 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 3: Reports suggests that he fell out of a window, poisoned 5 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:12,959 Speaker 3: with mushrooms. 6 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 2: Died of heart failure, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. How 7 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 2: comesy are they? 8 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:22,959 Speaker 1: Dozens of Russian oligachs, politically motivated millionaires have died in 9 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: the space for three years, most of them in suspicious circumstances. 10 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: Many have hidden links to the Kremlin. This is sad 11 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: Oligach Season two, an ongoing investigation into these recently dead 12 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: Russian power brokers. Sad Oligach is created by me jake 13 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: Hanrahan and my Ukrainian colleague Sergei Slipchenkov. This is a 14 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: H eleven studio and Coolso Media production. December seventeenth, twenty 15 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: twenty three. Fifty year old senior accountant Evgeny Postragan is 16 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: in the garage of his private home in the closed 17 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: city of jelen Nogorsk, hidden away in central Siberia. This 18 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: is a place unlike any other, its secret clandestine. Postragan 19 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: works for a state satellite development company. Postragan is tying 20 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: a knot. 21 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 2: In a thick rope. 22 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: He pulls the ends toward test the slack. He's making 23 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: a noose. Even in the garage. His breath catches in 24 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: the cold. Small wisps of white eke from his lips 25 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: as he fixes the rope. At this time of year, 26 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: it's deadly freezing outside. Jelein Agause hits lows of around 27 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: a minus twenty in the winter. A few feet beyond 28 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: the garage walls, everything is snow and ice. This is 29 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: the Siberia Agent after all. Postragan has finished his noose. 30 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: He pulls off a stool, stands on it, and ties 31 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: it to the rafters. Above a tear drop loop of 32 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 1: ropes weayhs inches from his face, the vast unknown expanse 33 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: of the afterlife just moments away. Posture Gan pulls the 34 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: noose over his head and kicks away the stool. He drops, 35 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: his body weight slowly chokes him. The rope tightens stiff 36 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: around his neck, his legs dangling and kicking in the air. 37 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: Everything goes dark. Eventually he stops struggling ef Guinea, Postragan 38 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: chokes to death by his own hand. Sadly, Postragan's wife 39 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: found him hanging from the rafters, his feet dangling his 40 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: heart still, his life gone. This is the official story 41 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: from the Russian State of how Evgeny Postragan died. Of course, 42 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: the Russian State is most definitely not a reliable source. 43 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: Before we get into what kind of a man Evgeny 44 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: Postragan was, let's have a look at the kind of 45 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: place Zeleno Gorsk is. In short, it's a clandestine city 46 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: in Russia built up to produce nuclear weapons for the government. 47 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: Serious location with a shadowy mo. I speak to journalist 48 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: Matthew Gault. He runs the publication Angry Planet and is 49 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: extremely knowledgeable on all things nuclear. So I think maybe 50 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: the first thing would be maybe to kind of explain 51 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: why these closed ease happened, why would they started up, 52 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: and what was their purpose. 53 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 3: They predate nuclear weapons because there were like some there 54 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 3: were some planned cities that they were making kind of 55 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 3: east of the Ural mountains before nukes because they needed 56 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,480 Speaker 3: like an industrial base kind of overnight to produce weapons. 57 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 3: But then like it really gets going in nineteen fifty 58 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 3: when the Soviets go real big on nukes and they 59 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 3: kind of adopt this model that they'd seen the Americans use. 60 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 3: The Americans when they were doing the Manhattan Project set 61 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 3: up these secret cities Oakridge, Los Alamos, where they brought 62 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 3: in all of the scientists and the scientists' families and 63 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 3: all of the labors that they needed and kind of 64 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 3: built these closed cities almost overnight. And the Soviet Union 65 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 3: does the same thing at like a massive scale. And 66 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 3: they need them because, like, nuclear weapons are very secretive 67 00:04:57,520 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 3: and you don't want people to know where your stuff is, 68 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 3: and that's why they get started, and like why there's 69 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 3: so many of them, like in the Siberian area in 70 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 3: like in eastern Russia in general. 71 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: This place was from what I understand, primarily made for 72 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: the production of nuclear weapons. Right, there's plutonium. How does 73 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: that all work? Is that something they would mine? Is 74 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: that something they would produce? It's going over my head 75 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: a little bit, I'll be honest. 76 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 3: So it's pretty fascinating the project that happens in this 77 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 3: city specifically. Have you seen the Have you seen like 78 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 3: the city's flag or it's cut of arms. 79 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 2: It's incredible. 80 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: It's one of the coolest flags of the bear right 81 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: in the atom. Believe it or not, this clandestine closed 82 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: city actually has one of the coolest, most eye catching 83 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: flags I've ever seen. 84 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 2: The background is bright red. 85 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: On top of that, there's a yellow bear inside an 86 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: atom symbol at the center. The bear, with an angry face, 87 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: is trying to break apart the atomic core. It's cracking 88 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,919 Speaker 1: in two, literally split in the atom. Now this isn't 89 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: some relic from the Soviet era either. Back in those days, 90 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: jelener Gorsk was actually called Krasnoyask twenty six. Its flag 91 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: back then was a blue and orange checkered background with 92 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: a red and yellow lion's crest in the center. The 93 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: lion is holding a shovel and of course a sickle. 94 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: The current flag, though for Jelen a goorsk with the 95 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: bear and the atom symbol, was approved and put into 96 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: use in twenty twelve. The closed city's description of it, 97 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 1: which varies quite differently from mine, shows just. 98 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,799 Speaker 2: How proud they are of it all. Quote. 99 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: In a scarlet field, there is a silver sign of 100 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: an atom with three intertwined orbits, and inside the orbits 101 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: there is a golden bear threaded through them with silver 102 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: fangs and claws, rising straight and turning to the right, 103 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: tearing the silver core on the sign of the atom 104 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: with its front paws and resting its hind paws on 105 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: two of the three orbits end the quote Jellen and 106 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: Gorsk might be private and closed off, but Russia is 107 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: most definitely proud of its current utility and history. To 108 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: be fair, the way they built the place is a 109 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: serious feat of engineering. 110 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 3: So the city, you think it got up to about 111 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 3: one hundred thousand people like in its heyday. And what 112 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 3: they do is they bring in a bunch of goolag labor. 113 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 3: They hollow out a nearby mountain and they build three 114 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 3: nuclear reactors in there. And the nuclear reactors are dual use, 115 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 3: so they produce they like heat and cool the city. 116 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 3: They do like they power the whole city, but they 117 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 3: also produce plutonium that is used in the manufacture of 118 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 3: nuclear weapons. I think like at the end of the day, 119 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 3: something like a third of all of the plutonium that 120 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 3: was used in the Soviet nuclear weapons is produced in 121 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 3: this mountain. 122 00:07:58,960 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 2: It's hard to explain. 123 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: It's it's like almost a warehouse setting, but it's actually 124 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: hollowed out in the mountain. 125 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 2: Is that what you mean. 126 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's almost like they it's almost like some supervillain stuff. 127 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds very James Bond, you know. 128 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, they have this huge mountain, they hollow it out, 129 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 3: they build these nuclear reactors under there, and they ferry. 130 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 3: The mountain is like a I think it's like twenty 131 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 3: thirty kilometers away from the city itself, and people live 132 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 3: in the city and take shuttles back and forth, and 133 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 3: they're the whole city is kind of based around this, 134 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 3: like producing plutonium for the Soviet nuclear weapons program. And 135 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 3: it's really interesting because at a time when it's not 136 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 3: great to live in Soviet society, this is the place 137 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 3: to be. 138 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: The thing with the society of the USSA is that 139 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: it was, of course communist ostensibly anyway of communist friends 140 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: who tell me real. 141 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 2: Communism has never been. 142 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: Tried, and I tell them they've never tried real life. 143 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: But anyway, in the Soviet Union, private ownership was highly restricted. 144 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: What you got would often depend on class status, which 145 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: was often linked to someone's employment. Really not much different 146 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: from the systems we have now. Similarly, the elite of 147 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: the USSR group fat and had whatever they wanted, but 148 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: the workers were not so lucky. Jelly n Gorsk, though, 149 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: was a rare place in Siberia that gave employees a 150 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: lot more access to otherwise restricted goods. 151 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 2: It was not just a job. 152 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,439 Speaker 3: For like forty years. These are probably some of the 153 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 3: best treated citizens in the Soviet Union. They've got the 154 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 3: best foods, they've got the best clothing, they've got the 155 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 3: best you know, the best housing. It is good. Do 156 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 3: they have chocolate, which like other places don't have. Some 157 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 3: of the stories are about how much chocolate they got 158 00:09:58,559 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 3: to eat. 159 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, I read it was one of the few places 160 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 1: where you could have a car as well. Okay, now 161 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 1: it's time for a quick outbreak, all. 162 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 2: Right, not for that. Now back to the shore. 163 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 3: Now. The downside is that it's sealed. There are there 164 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,200 Speaker 3: are guards at the entrances and exits of the entire city, 165 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:31,679 Speaker 3: and it's monitored by Soviets secret police. Like the whole 166 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:36,080 Speaker 3: place is watched over. So like it's it's a gilded cage, 167 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 3: but it's still a cage. 168 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: Say you were living there, obviously, you work there, you 169 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: live there. It's how it works. It's kind of feudal 170 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: in a way. But if you're living there, can you 171 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: just freely go in and out? Like it's not just 172 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: to stop people getting in, from what I understand, it 173 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: also kind of stops people getting out. 174 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, no, No, they don't want you to leave because 175 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 3: there's like if you work in the plutonium and if 176 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 3: you work in the plutonium factories, like you have secret 177 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 3: knowledge of how the Soviet unit is producing the fuel 178 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 3: that makes its nukes. And this is a It's also 179 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 3: interesting because like Los Alamos are like Oak Ridge, the 180 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 3: culture is very mixed, meaning that you've got people that 181 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 3: are laborers and like working class people, but then you 182 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 3: also have nuclear scientists, like some of the smartest people 183 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,320 Speaker 3: that are in the country live in this live and 184 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:33,200 Speaker 3: work in the city and are doing like fringe science 185 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 3: and so and they you don't want those people leaving either. 186 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 3: So that's why you build it like in Siberia, which 187 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 3: is an easier place to like keep people in and yeah, 188 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 3: you aren't getting in or out of there. 189 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 2: That is crazy. 190 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 1: So the proximity to the plutonium production, how how does 191 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,560 Speaker 1: one produce plutonium? 192 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 3: The would do is they would bring in the minerals 193 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,359 Speaker 3: from outside and they would put them in these reactors, 194 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 3: and these reactors would they would both power the city 195 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 3: and then they would also spit out plutonium plutonium. I'm 196 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 3: gonna screw up the designation. It's like two thirty six, 197 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 3: I think, which is what they would use in their 198 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 3: weapons program. And the way they would this is kind 199 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 3: of wild. They would cool the reactors with the nearby river, 200 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 3: which also flows downstream and has a bunch of other 201 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 3: cities that are feeding off of it. Especially this time, 202 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 3: nuclear reactors are not they're pumping the waste into the ground, 203 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 3: but also like it's backsplashing into that river that they're 204 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 3: using to cool everything, and if kind of irradiating all 205 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 3: of the citizens and everybody that lives downstream from them, 206 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 3: so like incidents of breast cancer and birth defects in 207 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 3: that city and then like everybody that lives downstream from 208 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 3: the city are pretty high. They keep producing plutonium there 209 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 3: for a while. So at the end of like when 210 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,359 Speaker 3: the Soviet Union collapses, they shut down two of the reactors, 211 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 3: and the way the reactors work, they can't keep going 212 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 3: and not make It's like always going to be outputting 213 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,959 Speaker 3: plutonium that you can only kind of use in weapons, 214 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 3: and so it becomes this weird problem. Like in the 215 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 3: early nineties, when they shut the reactors down, Russia is 216 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 3: like dismantling nuclear weapons. They're left with this one reactor 217 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 3: that is like spitting out plutoni like weapons grade plutonium 218 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 3: constantly and like piling up, and they don't know what 219 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 3: to do with but they can't turn it off because 220 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 3: then the city, like the city doesn't have power. 221 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: Basically, eventually, in twenty ten, with international help, Russia managed 222 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: to shut down all the old reactors. In that time, 223 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:49,719 Speaker 1: though serious pollution had damaged the area, still business had 224 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,840 Speaker 1: to keep on moving weapons to build profit to make 225 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: new state companies of the New Russia took over when 226 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:02,680 Speaker 1: the Postagon ended up working for We'll hear more about 227 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: that in a bit, but for now, just understand that 228 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: we live in a time where nukes are very much 229 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: back on the table. This could be relevant. This place 230 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:18,720 Speaker 1: is jelen Agusk. It's potentially a lot more significant, especially 231 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: considering the war in Ukraine, which a lot of this 232 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: points to that. You know, they were talking about tactical 233 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: nukes and now you've got Trump talking about nukes. If 234 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: there's ever a time when the uptick of production or 235 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: watchful eyes on the region of this closed platonium place 236 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: in jelen a Gausk, I feel like it will be now. 237 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so. But unfortunately it's really wild. What's 238 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 3: happened like in the past ten years. It's like after 239 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 3: the collapse of the Soviet Union, we had this nice 240 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 3: twenty year period where we have some really great treaties. 241 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 3: People were kind of drawing down their nukes. America was 242 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 3: in the Soviet Union a whole lot helped with a 243 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 3: lot of the cleanup and a lot of the study 244 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 3: and a lot of the shutting down of the reactors 245 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 3: in that mountain. Now, post Trump won, post COVID, like 246 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 3: all the old treaties are on hold. Russia's not coming 247 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 3: into American inspecting anything. America is not going over to 248 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 3: Russian inspecting anything. If you were doing something in that 249 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 3: mountain you didn't want anyone in the international community to see, 250 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 3: now would be a great time to do it, because 251 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 3: no one's watching anyone in the way that they used 252 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 3: to be watching anyone. 253 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: It turns out that there is plenty going on in 254 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 1: Jelling of Gauze that shouldn't be. We've dug deep and 255 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 1: eventually we found some payda. First, though, let's take a 256 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: closer look at Postragan. December seventeenth, back on the night 257 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: of his death, Evgenny Postragan headed out of the house 258 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 1: before he hanged himself, where too no one seems to know, 259 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: came back and did the d Perhaps he went out 260 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: for a walk just to clear his head and decided 261 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: that he was definitely going to take his own life 262 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: when he got back. 263 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 2: It's more than likely. 264 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: Another possibility he went out to meet an undisclosed person 265 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: who gave him some very bad news, so bad that 266 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: Postragan could see only one way out. The cloak and 267 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: dagger nature of a closed nuclear city in the heart 268 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: of Siberia means there's very little to go on. But 269 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: what we have found out is that Postragan was largely 270 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: liked by his peers and the local community. One person 271 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: anonymously describes him as a quote kind and decent man. 272 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: Locals say they don't feel he would have committed suicide. 273 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: It would have been his fifty first birthday, four days. 274 00:16:58,640 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 2: After his death. 275 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: Apparently he didn't seem depressed or preoccupied. No, not to them, 276 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,159 Speaker 1: who knows what's going on in someone's head. According to 277 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: state media, Postragand had actually been posting depressive messages on 278 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:19,360 Speaker 1: his VK page. He allegedly posted up pessimistic Japanese poems 279 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: hayakus of melancholy. Perhaps the works of the famous Japanese 280 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: poet Matsuo bashoal sick on a journey my dreams, wonder 281 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 1: the withered fields over still fields of snow, or winter 282 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,160 Speaker 1: solitude in a world of one color, the sound of wind, 283 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: or weather beaten skeleton. That is all the remains of 284 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: a once gallant samurai who knows. We didn't get a 285 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,919 Speaker 1: chance to see which depressive Japanese poems Postragan posted. His 286 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: VK page was disabled shortly after his death. In fact, 287 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,640 Speaker 1: all of Postragan's social media was wiped as soon as 288 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:10,439 Speaker 1: he died. It was all gone disabled with haste. What 289 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: we do know, however, is that he was last online 290 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 1: on VK at six thirty three pm on December sixteenth, 291 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: one day before he died. It's also this day that 292 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: he went out on his own again, with nobody knowing. 293 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:27,200 Speaker 2: Where he went. 294 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,679 Speaker 1: Could just be a walk to clear his head, or 295 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:39,680 Speaker 1: it could be something else. If Postragan's suicide was actually 296 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: just a suicide, why did he do it? Why take 297 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: his own life? Well, according to state controlled Russian media, 298 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 1: it was maybe because of quote a lot of funds 299 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:59,159 Speaker 1: from the company he worked for, reshet Nev Information Satellite 300 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:04,159 Speaker 1: systems really rolls off the tongue. This company is a 301 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 1: subsidiary of the Russian space agency ros Cosmos. We know 302 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:13,119 Speaker 1: from two episodes back that you do not mess with 303 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: ross Cosmos. As we heard earlier from Matthew Gault Zellner, 304 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:23,920 Speaker 1: Gorsk is a closed area with multiple defense manufacturing facilities. 305 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: They produce weapons grade plutonium. The line of work Postragan 306 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: was involved in, though, was to do with the satellite systems. 307 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 1: Russia's satellite network is supposed to arrival the GPS system 308 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 1: we have in the West. It's also used by Russian 309 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: military to assist with Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Okay, 310 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: now it's time for a quick outbreak. All right, enough 311 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 1: of that, Now back. 312 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 2: To the shot. 313 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: As you've probably noticed through series one and two of 314 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: sad Oligarch, feels as if all roads lead to Ukraine. 315 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: It's through the prism of Putin's disastrous invasion in twenty 316 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: twenty two that oligarchs and the power brokers in their 317 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: orbit began dropping like flights. However, Postragan was not an oligach, 318 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: but he was most definitely in the sad Oligarch sphere 319 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: of influence. 320 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 2: And disaster. 321 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: His role as a senior accountant at reshat Nev possibly 322 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: put him in the crosshairs when the company's coffers began 323 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 1: to run dry. 324 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 3: Where is the money going to come from? 325 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: The lost fun the Russian media spoke about in the 326 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 1: report on Postragans suicide begins at about eighty billion rubles, 327 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: that's almost a billion US dollars in twenty twenty three. 328 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:20,160 Speaker 1: This was the amount of money rashat Nev lost. They 329 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:29,639 Speaker 1: lost almost one billion dollars. That's a hell of a problem. 330 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,639 Speaker 1: We've been chipping away at this case, and whilst on 331 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: the surface it might seem like a cut and dryer suicide, 332 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 1: there is obviously a lot more going on, specifically with 333 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,719 Speaker 1: postra Gans place of employment. 334 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:44,880 Speaker 2: Let's talk to sergery. 335 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,959 Speaker 1: It's funny, I think we see this connection with basically 336 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:56,159 Speaker 1: almost every single suspected or suspect death in this series, 337 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: especially where it all seems to tie back to Ukraine, 338 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: especially with this company the same as Ross Cosmos, like rockets, 339 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. It's all the same technology, and 340 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: this again it's a it's a company that's directly tied 341 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,439 Speaker 1: to the state, like the Kremlin owns this company. 342 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 2: Essentially, right, yeah. 343 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 4: One hundred percent. So again, ros Cosmos, the state like 344 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 4: space agency, essentially owned this company one hundred percent. Ros 345 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 4: Costmos is the parent company and they basically own it, 346 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,400 Speaker 4: they oversee it ros Cosmos, But more so the government 347 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 4: kind of decides the leadership and stuff like that. Right, 348 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 4: So if there's a change in the CEO or whoever, 349 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,120 Speaker 4: like the director general, it's going to come from Moscow, 350 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:36,959 Speaker 4: even though this this thing is like, you know, thousands 351 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:41,160 Speaker 4: kilometers away from Moscow in Siberia. Yeah, Like ros Cosmos 352 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 4: is the main owner of this company. 353 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 1: And as is with pretty much every company that we've 354 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: come across, there's there's a lot. 355 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 2: Of corruption at this place. Right. 356 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: So again it seems to be this pattern at the 357 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,040 Speaker 1: minute of very little information out there. But then and 358 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: when we dig in and have a look, there's embezzlement 359 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:04,520 Speaker 1: seems to be at the center of all these cases. 360 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: Post Gan he himself was let's say, attached by a 361 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:13,879 Speaker 1: proxy at best and completely involved in the embezzlement at worst. 362 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,719 Speaker 4: Right, Postergen was the CFO, I guess we would call 363 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 4: him right in the West, chief financial officer. I think 364 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 4: they called him the head accountant of the place, so 365 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 4: he was leading the financial department. From by understanding, he 366 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:29,920 Speaker 4: started as just an accountant of the company, like back 367 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 4: in two thousands, and over the years he ended up 368 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,439 Speaker 4: leading the place. The person that was in charge of 369 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 4: the actual company was Nikolai Destodov. I don't know if 370 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,880 Speaker 4: he's officially under an investigation, but he was definitely involved 371 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 4: with the comms directors fraud investigation, who has been criminally, 372 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 4: if not charged, definitely investigated for fraud and embezzlement. 373 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: It's here we start to understand where the missing billions 374 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:59,399 Speaker 1: might have gone. Everyone from the communication officers to the 375 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 1: boardroom execs seems to be some way involved in mass 376 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:08,400 Speaker 1: embezzlement at rishat Nev. As the head of financial management 377 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,680 Speaker 1: at this company, how could Postugan not have known. 378 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 4: It would be hard to deny that, you know, the 379 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 4: head of the financial department had no idea about any 380 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 4: fraud or embezzlement. It would kind of seem like the 381 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,919 Speaker 4: thing that he should, if you know, if not at 382 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 4: least be involved, be aware of or understand that money 383 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 4: is going somewhere where it's not supposed to. But there's yeah, 384 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 4: the company was corrupt. The Sutlan and Bashkova. She was 385 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 4: in charge of the direct communications and she basically had 386 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 4: a company that it looks like it was a fake company, 387 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 4: but she created Prometheus Medium and she would get like 388 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 4: contracts for the company to create like in the in 389 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 4: the court filing, it was like media products, so I 390 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 4: think like videos, maybe like advertisements, things like that. And 391 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 4: despite the act company like Rashnatiev actually having their only 392 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 4: press corp press service or whatever, like basically media people 393 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,679 Speaker 4: who could do this already, and she would sign contracts. 394 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,760 Speaker 4: It says that like over I think it was like 395 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 4: six years, she basically gave this fake company that she 396 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:21,959 Speaker 4: created over one hundred contracts totaling like forty three million 397 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 4: rules when all the work was actually just done by 398 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 4: the team that they already had. 399 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:30,880 Speaker 1: This is some next level brazen theft of company funds. 400 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: The communications officer made a fake company, gave said fake 401 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:40,919 Speaker 1: company media contracts from her own job, and then just 402 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: got her staff to do the media work she was 403 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 1: meant to hire out to a creative third party. The 404 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: audacity of this scheme, coupled with the higher up embezzlement, 405 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: will have no doubt enraged Moscow when it was discovered it. 406 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 4: Was supposed to be like a third party contractor that 407 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,880 Speaker 4: she claimed had like equipment that they didn't, when apparently 408 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 4: the company is like a balanced it or whatever listed 409 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 4: all this equipment that was used in the end. So 410 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:08,160 Speaker 4: it seems like she just kind of used it as 411 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 4: like a way to funnel money out of the company. 412 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: So it's the sort of thing where, especially the department 413 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: that he's in, I'm gonna say, it's very unlikely he 414 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't have seen this happening, right, especially if it's embezzlement, 415 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,160 Speaker 1: it's money, He surely would have seen this. He's got 416 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: to deal with the accounts. 417 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:32,160 Speaker 4: Yeah, Like this money isn't just appearing out of nowhere, right. 418 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 4: This is a state sponsored or state owned company, so 419 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 4: this money is coming from Moscow, probably being approved by 420 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 4: in the budget. Like this should be accounted for. He 421 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:46,280 Speaker 4: should know where things are going, what's happening. And again 422 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 4: it's kind of hard to imagine that he just is 423 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 4: blind to over like what five years, six years, almost 424 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 4: fifty million rubles just disappearing. There must have been kind 425 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 4: of an understanding of like, okay, something is not right, 426 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 4: And it sounds like, again the CEO hasn't been charged 427 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 4: from what I could see, but it seems like at 428 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 4: least the CEO knew, and then if the CEO was 429 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,159 Speaker 4: in on it, it wasn't like just Bashkova, not just 430 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,159 Speaker 4: the comms director doing all this stuff. I find it 431 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 4: hard to believe that the guy in charge of all 432 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 4: the finances for the entire company had no idea that 433 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 4: something was wrong. If not, you know, be directly involved. 434 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: Once again, it comes back to this thing of stealing 435 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: from the state. Do you think it's possible that he 436 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,439 Speaker 1: realized he was going to get caught, he was going 437 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 1: to be in some hot water, and he said, you 438 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: know what, the pressure of this, I might as well 439 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: just kill myself again, another kind of murder by proxy 440 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:43,920 Speaker 1: via suicide, if that makes sense. 441 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 4: I think this is one of the more clear cut 442 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 4: cases for that. So in twenty twenty two is when 443 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 4: the previous CEO Testodov. I don't know if resigns or 444 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 4: I think one thing I saw was somebody said basically replaced. 445 00:27:57,800 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 4: Like I said, like Moscow is kind of in charge 446 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 4: of right, whether it's at Roskosmos, whether it's somebody closer 447 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,680 Speaker 4: to putin or even putin himself, a person from Moscow 448 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 4: comes in. His name is if Ganianisterov. He's he's much 449 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,679 Speaker 4: younger for reference, like the previous CEO's like a seventy 450 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:17,120 Speaker 4: three year old academic, kind of Soviet era person who 451 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,880 Speaker 4: actually like worked on some satellites and you know that tech. 452 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 4: I guess he like works his way up to be 453 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 4: the CEO. He again either quits, you know, maybe forcefully 454 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 4: retires or whatever. He's not at the company anymore. Twenty 455 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:34,680 Speaker 4: twenty two, a young guy forties, but you know, compared 456 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:36,920 Speaker 4: to these other people, he's pretty young. He comes in. 457 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 4: He ran some startups in Moscow. He I think he 458 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 4: taught at a university or something like that related to 459 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 4: kind of like the space and satellites. And he comes 460 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:50,640 Speaker 4: over in twenty twenty two, and it kind of looks 461 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 4: like he's there to clear house because shortly after he joins, 462 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 4: Boshkowa quickly retires or quits, like she kind of gives 463 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,040 Speaker 4: in her resignation from what I understand, and then soon 464 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 4: after she's you know, undergoing these criminal charges. Very soon 465 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 4: after Pastriking kills himself. And then there was I think 466 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 4: I mentioned to you the smaller cases where like employees 467 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 4: receive like a bonus of like it wasn't too big. 468 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 4: It was like a million rubles, which is like I 469 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 4: think a couple thousand dollars. But three people get arrested 470 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 4: for giving out these bonuses and then keeping them for themselves. 471 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 4: So clearly like it sounds like this new person nested 472 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 4: of came in to kind of get rid of this 473 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 4: corruption and figure out what's happening, because I mean, there's 474 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 4: sanctions and things like that on this company that's making 475 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 4: you lose money, but it's losing a ton of money, 476 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 4: you know, money going down the train when this is 477 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,040 Speaker 4: supposed to be a big like defense company. 478 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 1: So with all this knowledge of posture, guns, corrupt employment, 479 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: does this look like an actual suicide? 480 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 2: Still? 481 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: I think it's still quite likely. All the embezzlement pressure 482 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: and the huge one of Harry losses at the state 483 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: company Postragan worked at would have no doubt caused serious stress, 484 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: stress that does not go away. I don't for a 485 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: second believe Postragan didn't know all this was happening. He 486 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:22,200 Speaker 1: lived in the closed state run city where secrecy and 487 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 1: stepping in line are paramount. He then killed himself shortly 488 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 1: after a new government appointed boss is brought in to 489 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: fix the leaky ship. He would have known full well 490 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: that the Kremlin's shadowy operatives set examples and punish people 491 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 1: who steal from the state. Ultimately, Postragan was in charge 492 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 1: of the money. As the money went missing, where is 493 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: the money? As the sad Oligach pattern shows in Putin's Russia, 494 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: the head must roll. As I said, suicide to avoid 495 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: worse fate at the hands of the government is quite likely. 496 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: There are, though, a few other things about this case 497 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:12,240 Speaker 1: that have me curious still. For example, I would be 498 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: interested to know if Postragan met with anyone in the 499 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: moments when he went for a long walk alone in 500 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: the deadly cold of the Siberian winter twice in two 501 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:30,560 Speaker 1: days before his death. Will probably never know. And there 502 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 1: is the other possibility that Postugan was got rid of 503 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: when the shit hit the fan for what was effectively 504 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: a Zelenegorusk embezzlement ring. Get this, Exactly one week after 505 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 1: Postragan's death, a deputy head at rashatnv's parent company, ross 506 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: Cosmos was arrested for fraud, large scale fraud. It's alleged 507 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: by the state that he stole of four hundred million rubles. 508 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: That's over four million dollars. This guy's name is Oleg Frolov. 509 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 1: Along with two other accomplices, he stole money from budgets 510 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:18,880 Speaker 1: that were allocated to purchase equipment. This is similar to 511 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:24,640 Speaker 1: the brazen embezzlement of Reshetv's fake media contracts. At the 512 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: same time as all of this, another man named Yevgeny 513 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 1: Formachief was arrested for a different case of fraud roz Cosmos. 514 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: They're all at it. And then prior to this, there 515 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: were even more claims of corruption. Remember the Russian satellite 516 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: navigation system we mentioned earlier. The people running that accused 517 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: reshet Nev of purposely delayed joint operations in order to 518 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: quote suck in more money from the funding. Remember, the 519 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:03,960 Speaker 1: satellite work has direct implications on the battlefield in Ukraine, 520 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:09,480 Speaker 1: a very touchy subject for the Kremlin. So with all 521 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 1: these mounting issues, all fingers are pointed at the senior 522 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 1: accountant at the center of the scandal, Evgeny Postrogan. As 523 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: this house of Kurds falls apart, many elite Kremlin adjacent 524 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: professionals are headed for their day in court. It's fair 525 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: to assume, considering his role the Postragan would have had 526 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 1: a stack of evidence to maybe dig himself out of 527 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: this hole and cooperate with the case. But I guess 528 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:46,920 Speaker 1: we'll never actually know. The man with his eyes on 529 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: the accounts as all of this fraud happened, is now 530 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 1: dead and dead men tell no tales. How incredibly convenient 531 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:16,800 Speaker 1: for the acute us. You've been listening to sad Oliga 532 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 1: season two, produced by H eleven Studios for Cool Zone Media. Writing, editing, producing, 533 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:31,440 Speaker 1: concept and recording by myself, Jake Hanrahan. Research and reporting 534 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:37,799 Speaker 1: by Sergei Slipchenko, me and Victim Mihail. Executive producing by 535 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: Sophie Lichtman. Music by Sam Black, artwork by George Juteful, 536 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:51,359 Speaker 1: sound mixed by Splicing Bloc. See my other projects at 537 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:55,279 Speaker 1: Hanrahan dot tv. Get me on social media at Jake 538 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 1: under School Hanrahan. 539 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,480 Speaker 2: That's h A n R A h A. 540 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 3: A cat like cot Ca canty 541 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:08,560 Speaker 4: Ca ca cas Catholic, Catholic