WEBVTT - The Tycoon in a Gulag (Part Two) 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:06.560 Media. Something strange is going on. Another member of the 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:08.119 Russian elites has been found dead. 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.200 Reports suggests that he fell out of a window, poisoned 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:12.680 with mushrooms. 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.560 Died of heart failure, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:17.080 How comes you are they? 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:22.959 Dozens of Russian oligachs, politically motivated millionaires have died in 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:28.040 the space for three years, most of them in suspicious circumstances. 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:32.159 Many have hidden links to the Kremlin. This is sad 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:37.960 Oligach Season two, an ongoing investigation into these recently dead 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:42.880 Russian power brokers. Sad Oligach is created by me Jake 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:47.920 Hanrahan and my Ukrainian colleague Sergey Slipchenkong. This is a 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:56.240 H eleven Studio and Coolso Media production. Last week, in 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.400 part one of this episode, Tycoon in a Gulag I 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:02.840 laid out the train of events that led to Aygor 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:07.600 Kotlnikov's sudden death. He was a key part of a 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:11.280 conspiracy to pinch pennies on a very large scale, WHI 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:15.240 was providing produce for Russian military rations as they continued 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:22.840 their invasion of Ukraine. Kotelnikov died somehow in a solitary 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:27.560 confinement cell in a Moscow pre trial detention center. We 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.520 still don't know much about his death, literally just the 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.199 day and where it happened. July eighth, twenty twenty four, 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:42.600 in a cell. Before Kotlnikov was announced dead, it said 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:47.280 he was healthy and appeared generally okay. A human rights 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:51.160 organization in Russia met with him in jail just days 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:56.000 before he passed. Before we dig deeper into the other 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.960 defendants around this strange case, I want to have another 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:05.320 look at the detention centers themselves. Research shows that they 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:09.600 are excellent places to have people killed in if you 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:15.680 were so inclined. They've become a core tool of Putin's Russia. 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:20.440 You'll see why this is relevant in a bit. Russia's 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:25.960 pre trial detention centers are known colloquially as sizo's. It's 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:33.520 a Russian acronym that means investigative isolation facility. Whilst Caeso's 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:37.200 are often described as prisons. Now, they were never quite 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:41.880 meant to be that. Jail's sure, but prisons not so much. 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:47.959 Prison is where you go after conviction. Caeso's a replaced 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.680 for the Russian authorities to turn the screws on you. 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.400 They exist to apply pressure on an inmate before anything 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:58.920 has fully been proven. You're in there until the final 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:04.680 decision has been made a court. However, under Putin, this 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:11.760 distinction between prison and jail has become largely meaningless in practice. 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:17.400 Pre trial detention in Russia functions as punishment, leverage, and warning, 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:21.679 all of this at the same time as you sit there, 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:26.880 rotting in some of the worst conditions imaginable. Whilst Putin 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.840 has added Caeso's to his tallkit of cruel weaponry, they 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:35.840 weren't invented by him. These are inherited state structures that 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.760 were planted as seeds by the nightmare of the Soviet 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:45.400 Union's justice infrastructure. In the USSR, it was as simple 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:51.240 as this, if you've been arrested, you're probably guilty. Pre 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:57.280 Trial detention existed to isolate suspects, extract confessions, and prepare cases. 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:03.920 It was by no means whereas suspects rights would be respected. Frankly, 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:08.440 once in that system, your rights ceased to exist, at 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:13.200 least as far as the Soviet authorities were concerned. The 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:17.599 Soviet Union collapsed, Russia attempted reform in the country in 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.159 the late nineties. They even signed up to adheer to 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:28.279 European legal standards, considering the hypocritical authoritarianism of Europe's so 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:33.159 called justice system. That sounds laughable now, but back then, 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.240 in comparison with what the USSR had been up to, 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:41.600 it actually meant something. And so as part of this 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:46.360 attempt at reform, Russia transferred control of the detention facilities 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:52.279 from the Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry. On paper, 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:54.640 this was meant to put an end to the abuse 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:59.640 in the hellish limbo of pre trial detention jails. In reality, 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:05.520 almost nothing actually changed. When Putin took power in the 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:10.599 early two thousands, The so called reform period died quietly. 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.480 Justice sectors were brought and the firm control of the 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:19.240 new political elite. The result wasn't a return to gulags, 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:24.839 but something subtler and more efficient. Detention centers were turned 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:29.200 into pressure cookers for inmates awaiting trial. All of this 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:33.360 was done legally with a wave of Putin's iron fist. 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.440 These jails have been modernized just enough to remain functional 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:45.760 or keeping the same core purpose total control. Most of 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.520 the cazos used today were not freshly built under Putin. 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.920 They are old, infested, structures. Some of them SAAREHST era 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:59.960 prisons and former Soviet gulacs. They've been patched up here 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.200 in there. But as we explained in the last episode, 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:09.200 these caeizos are a nightmare. Putin era Russia focuses on 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:15.479 consolidation of prison control as opposed to reconstruction and criminal reform. 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:20.039 In that respect, it's just like the West. In these 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:24.680 squalid cells. There's very little natural light and airflow is 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:32.160 often non existent. There reguards everywhere, watching constantly as detainees 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.520 are squashed together like sad deans and shut off from 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:40.760 the outside world almost entirely. Remember this is not a 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:45.800 place for the guilty, not officially anyway. The people inside 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:49.680 are all await in trial. They're being punished before even 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:54.080 seeing a jury. Now, don't get it confused. These buildings 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:59.279 are not accidental relics. They're literally engineered and designed to 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:04.719 make time drag and for personal autonomy to evaporate. In Moscow, 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:09.760 especially Caeso's, are these huge brick compounds surrounded by high 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:14.000 walls with spools of sharp razor wire and constant watch towers. 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.280 They often sit just blocks away from offices, apartments, and 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:24.280 metro stations, a looming specter for anyone who thinks to 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:28.640 cross the state. For those who do and end up 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:32.720 trapped in these monoliths, their life becomes defined by waiting 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:39.120 and waiting and waiting, waiting for court dates, waiting for investigators, 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:43.040 waiting for letters, waiting for a release date that may 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:48.480 never come. These cells are high pressure containers for the worst. 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:52.800 Days are sometimes due to nothing ever happening, at least 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:57.640 not in regard to updates on a person's case. As 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.200 I mentioned in Part one, the cells are us usually overcrowded. 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.880 A space designed for four might hold six or eight. 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.520 A place for six might hold over a dozen. Beds 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:15.480 are narrow metal frames, often shared in shifts. In some facilities, 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:19.280 beds are even folded up upright during the day, forcing 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:23.200 detainees to stand or sit on the floors for hours. 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.800 The toilets are usually just a metal bowl in the corner. 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:33.360 There's no privacy, and some cells the lights stay on 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:39.319 around the clock, often in cells without windows twenty four 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:45.720 to seven halogen bulbs. Noise carries constantly through the corridors. 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:52.679 Sleep becomes shallow, fragmented, and for some non existent. As 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:58.280 for food, it's basic and repetitive. You get just enough 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:04.320 to survive, but not enough to stay healthy. Medical care 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:08.679 is minimal. Chronic conditions worse than mental health support is 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:13.240 a complete myth. Inside Russia's Caizo's you're not only on 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.240 your own, you're stock in conditions designed to make you 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:21.959 lose your mind. In these facilities, Katelnikov would have been 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:29.320 treated particularly badly. His crimes are essentially traitorous. He was 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:32.000 stealing from Russian troops as they got pink misted out 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:35.080 on the front lines of Ukraine. He became, in the 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:40.640 eyes of the hypernationalist Putin government, an enemy of Russia. 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.800 Now I actually know a charge to quote unquote enemy 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:49.240 of Russia. He's a British born Ukrainian soldier who was 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:53.440 taken as a prisoner of war. His name is Aidan Aslin. 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.440 He was captured by Russian forces in April twenty twenty 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:03.320 two in the east of Ukraine. Okay, now it's time 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:11.240 for a quick adbreak, all right, enough for that, Now 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:17.240 back to the shore. He was on the front fighting 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.520 for the freedom of the country. He was captured and 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.680 held in pre trialed attention for almost half a year. 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:30.040 Here's what he had to say about the conditions he experienced. 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:35.120 There was like a filtration place. He took us there. 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:37.840 That's when they started getting a bit more like rough 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:41.600 like man handling. They put us in stress position against 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.360 the wall, and then one way one they like processed 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.200 all of us, and then eventually it came to me. 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.600 I got a fucking punch of the nose and a 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:54.000 few more punches around. It wasn't too hard, it was 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:58.760 just like more more manhandling like punches, and then they 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:01.080 told me to get on my knees. That's when I 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.600 thought that maybe they're going to fucking might execute me 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.240 or something like right here. And then they told me 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:10.160 to get back up and fell back in, got taken 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.320 to the Netsk. And when they loaded me into the car, 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:15.520 like we were driving out the compound, and like one 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.320 of them turned and said, like we're taking you to 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.240 be shot. I pretended I didn't understand him, even though 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:23.160 I understood what he said, I just like stayed quiet 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:28.679 and just expected that this is how I die. Eventually 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.520 we get to the Netsk. I've got a hood on 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.240 at this time, well a plastic bag. I get taken 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.880 to some place in the nets. I get taken out. 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:40.720 They take the handcuffs off me, and then this guy 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.160 says says something to me in Russia, and I didn't 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.840 understand a word he said. And then me being me, 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:48.640 I asked him to repeat himself because I didn't understand. 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:50.280 As soon as I said that, like, I just got 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.520 a hit around the head with police baton and then 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:55.920 he also stabbed me on my left shoulder blade. 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:00.960 He stabbed you with a knife. Yeah, mean, man, that's 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:02.400 the police office though or whatever. 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:07.120 It's some sort of weird like special police like investigation thing. 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:11.199 It's like some Soviet bullshit. But yeah, they drove me 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.840 into that building and then they beat you for like 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:19.800 two hours, just asking those sorts of stupid questions. So 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:21.280 when I was in the prison, I was in this 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.800 cell block like five months, and it was it was 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.480 basically the solitary confinement with this prison for the swimmers, 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.439 they kept two people and they said for the POWs 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.280 they kept like fucking in one of the cells I 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:36.600 was in there, it was like five of us for 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:38.720 like a two man like self. Like it was like 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.120 super tiny cell. One of the guys had to sleep 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.840 on the floor is concrete. So I was in this 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:48.040 cell boop for five months. You had some pretty like nasty, 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:51.240 statistic like prison guards there, but there was like one 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.160 or two that were pretty all right, but like you 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:56.120 would have like some that were just like the guy 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:58.640 that would make us sing the anthem all day or 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.400 just fucking trying to scare us, or the guy that 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:04.520 liked to try and beat guys for reason. 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:11.760 Now, of course, Aslyn was in a very specific situation 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.920 during his detainment, but the way he was treated gives 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.720 you an idea of what prisoner's rights mean in Russia. 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.480 One of the most important features of the Putin era 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:26.120 pre trial detention centers is how long you have to 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:31.120 stay in them. These seizel detentions regularly last months, sometimes 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:37.280 even years. Judges almost always approve extensions requested by investigators. 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:43.600 Bail is rare, and house arrest is selectively applied. As 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:47.839 Sergei said in Part one, Kotelnikov requested to go back 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:51.040 to one of his big houses and rest up whilst 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:55.640 on bail, but it was immediately denied by the judge. 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:59.040 All of this turns the seizo into another weapon for 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.440 the state. By the time the case reaches caught, the 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:07.239 suspect has already been punished, even if they're later acquitted 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:11.160 or given a light sentence, the damage has basically already 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:15.800 been done. Investigators know it, defense lawyers know it, and 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:23.800 the defendants of course definitely know it. In this hellish 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.960 groundhog day of misery and detention, a confession can become 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:33.840 a bargaining hip. Cooperation can lead to transfers, better conditions, 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:39.080 or a faster case resolution. Resisting authorities, however, leads to 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:45.200 total stagnation or worse. Many many people have died in 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:51.320 these cazos under suspicious circumstances. To make matters worse, there's 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:58.119 an unspoken social hierarchy inside the season. This is inherited 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:03.920 from Russia's criminal underwe World gods officially deny any involvement, 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:08.120 but in practice the system is often tolerated or quietly 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:13.000 manipulated by them. Some even help to facilitate an inner 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:19.960 detention criminal network, a sort of caizo mafia. Certain detainees 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:24.960 are placed together deliberately. Informants might share cells with political 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:32.160 prisoners or businessmen. Businessmen like Kotelnikov. Vulnerable prisoners can be 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:36.920 exposed to pressure from hard and criminals. The state doesn't 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:41.680 need to issue explicit orders. This way, the predesigned hostile 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:46.320 environment does the work for it. Of course, violence doesn't 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:51.880 always need to be physical. The threat of isolation, humiliation, 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:56.240 or being labeled in prison culture as a weakling or 0:15:56.320 --> 0:16:01.200 a snitch is often enough to break people. There's a 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:05.280 ton of this going on inside the Moscow Seizo, specifically 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:10.760 where Kotelnikov was held. In fact, the Moscow detention centers 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.640 are some of the most infamous in the whole of Russia, 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:20.920 partly because that's where high profile cases end up. Places 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:27.240 like Botraaka, Matroskaya, Tishina, and Lafortovo have a long histories. 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:33.320 Lefortovo in particular is notorious, but in a different way. 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.760 It's a former KGB prison that still operates under heavy 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:45.200 FSB influence Putin's henchmen. Unlike most szo's, Lefortovo is quiet, 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:50.840 too quiet. It's very different there. It's strictly controlled and 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:56.880 much more hygienic than others, but that doesn't mean it's humane. 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:03.520 The nightmare here is more psychological than physical. Detainees have 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:11.560 described constant surveillance, strict silence, and extreme isolation. No shouting, talking, 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:16.560 no noise, no sense of time. Contact with family is 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:22.880 tightly restricted. Lawyers face regular stonewalling letters arrive late, if 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:27.840 at all, it's a different kind of pressure. That's all 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.879 to say that caeso's are used not only as a 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:34.960 weapon of the state, but a sort of laboratory, a 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:39.480 testing ground using experimental methods for abusing prisoners who were 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:44.400 not even yet found guilty. Whilst it's said that Kotelnikov 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:48.480 was in fairly good condition, the medical neglect in these 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:54.920 places is literally a defining feature. Tuberculosis, skin disease, and 0:17:55.240 --> 0:18:01.400 untreated chronic illnesses are very common, not to mention psychological deterioration, 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:07.040 which is almost guaranteed during long stays in Putin's caesos. 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:12.200 Deaths in pre trial custody are usually quickly explained away 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:20.040 as natural causes or suicides. Investigations are rare. Accountability is 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:25.200 almost unheard of, so when Kotelnikov dropped dead in solitary 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:29.720 with no explanation, no one was surprised that the jail 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:35.680 did fuckal to investigate. Now you might be wondering why 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:39.840 I am so focused on the detention centers themselves in 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:45.040 part two of the episode. Well, it's not just Kotelnikov 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:49.000 who died in one. Other defendants in his case also 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:53.439 seem to have perished without a trace whilst awaiting justice. 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:59.960 This politically inconvenient conspiracy of chain linked corruption involving stealing 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.800 food from Russian soldiers went away swiftly, and it went 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:09.040 away quietly. You see under Putin, Caesar's have become more 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:13.280 than detention centers. They're a threatening signal in the dark. 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.840 They show a businessmen what happens if you fall out 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:21.000 of favor. They signal to activists what resistance will cost them. 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:26.400 They even let ordinary everyday citizens know that legal protections 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:30.680 are conditional. This sort of system doesn't even need mass 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:36.159 physical repression. Stormtrooper boots on the tarmac are not always necessary. 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:41.480 The Kremlin only needs enough visible abuse to maintain fear. 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:46.359 A few people disappearing into pre trial detention for months 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:54.679 or years does the job perfectly. Okay, now it's time 0:19:54.840 --> 0:20:02.760 for a quick outbreak, all right, enough for that. Now 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:10.800 back to the shot. So now we know the true 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.840 horror of the Russian pre trial detention center, the CAIZO, 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:19.399 we can understand the context of Kotelnikov's situation a lot better. 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:24.200 That puts his refusal to give evidence against Tima Ivanov 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:28.400 into a different light. As we know now it would 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:32.359 have likely been very beneficial as a bargaining ticket for 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:38.159 Katelnikov to rat out Ivanov. So why didn't he? Well, first, 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:44.040 let's understand who Tima Ivanov is. This from Man and 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:50.600 Sergery's notes. Tiva Ivanov was born on August fifteenth, nineteen 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:56.480 seventy five, in Moscow. Little information is available regarding his childhood. 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.679 His father was from Moscow and his mother was from 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:04.320 so Dagastan. That's all we can find. Timar Ivanov was 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:10.000 a teenager when the Soviet Union began to unravel in disintegrate. Nevertheless, 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:13.280 in nineteen ninety seven, he went on to receive a 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:19.280 degree in applied mathematics from Moscow State University. In two 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:22.800 thousand and four, he received another degree, this time in 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:30.159 economics and finance. That same year, Tima Ivanov's father, Vadim Ivanov, 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:34.040 became the general director of a company that manufactured light 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:38.120 bulbs and other electrical devices. Keep this in mind, as 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:42.240 this will come up again in a minute. Ivanov went 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:47.400 on to receive and defend a PhD in economic sciences 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:53.639 in twenty eleven, focusing on financial and organizational models of 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:59.360 nuclear power plant projects. Something very useful to the Russian government, 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:03.440 although he was getting a higher education. Throughout the nineteen 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:08.240 nineties and two thousands, Ivanov also went through several notable 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.960 jobs during that time. For example, he was a vice 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:16.560 president and then the first vice president of Adam Stroyer 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:22.480 Export and russa Tom's engineering company, which helped construct nuclear 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:27.560 power plants outside of Russia. He also worked as an 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:31.280 advisor to the Minister of Energy of Russia between two 0:22:31.359 --> 0:22:34.560 thousand and eight and twenty twelve, and as the Director 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:38.919 General of the Russian Energy Agency, which is part of 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:43.560 Russia's Ministry of Energy part of the government. All of 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:47.560 his positions were important in their own industries, and Ivanov 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:51.240 certainly was doing well for himself by this point, but 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:54.760 all of his previous roles pale in comparison to his 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:59.400 professional speed run to the highest echelons of the Russian government. 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:05.119 This started in May twenty twelve, when he was appointed 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:08.679 as the deputy head of the Moscow Region, which was 0:23:08.720 --> 0:23:14.200 then led by none other than Sergei Shogu, the longtime 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:18.720 Russian powerbroker who served as Defence Minister from twenty eleven 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:22.639 until twenty twenty four. Remember, he was the one overseeing 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:27.560 Russia's military, including the invasion of Ukraine. He was a 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:32.639 big part of Putin's inner circle. Now, Tima Ivanov didn't 0:23:32.680 --> 0:23:36.400 keep this role for long, but that's only because following 0:23:36.600 --> 0:23:40.720 Shogu's appointment as Minister of Defense, Ivanov was assigned to 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:46.240 leave Oberon stroy the Defense Department's personal construction company, which 0:23:46.320 --> 0:23:52.200 oversees all of the military's construction projects such as training facilities, hospitals, 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:58.800 research institutions, and more. Apparently, Ivanov led that agency very well. 0:23:59.320 --> 0:24:03.320 Any project was assigned to him was completed quickly and 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:09.280 to Putin's satisfaction, according to reports from that time. For example, 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:14.760 shortly following Russia's annexation of Crimea in twenty fourteen, Oberon 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:19.560 Stroyer was tasked with constructing a presidential cadet school, which 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:23.640 Tima Ivanov made sure was completed in just three months. 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:29.600 In twenty fifteen, following multiple successful projects, Ivanov received an 0:24:29.680 --> 0:24:34.680 award from Putin himself, called the Honored Builder of Russia. 0:24:35.320 --> 0:24:39.400 So clearly, at one point Tima Ivanov was very, very 0:24:39.480 --> 0:24:44.480 connected to the Kremlin. In the following decade, Ivanov continued 0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:49.199 to successfully complete projects until he became the Deputy Minister 0:24:49.280 --> 0:24:52.800 of Defense, a role which had him oversee the construction 0:24:53.000 --> 0:24:57.119 and maintenance of all things related to the Russian military. 0:24:58.280 --> 0:25:02.520 At his peak, Ivanov was a a first class State Advisor, 0:25:02.920 --> 0:25:06.400 the highest possible rank a civil servant can receive, and 0:25:06.760 --> 0:25:09.760 is on the same sort of level with an army 0:25:09.880 --> 0:25:13.800 general or a navy admiral. From what we can gather, 0:25:14.000 --> 0:25:18.359 Ivanov lived happily with his kids, a lot of money, 0:25:18.840 --> 0:25:23.800 and his second wife in Moscow while overseeing various components 0:25:23.800 --> 0:25:28.479 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He very much has blood 0:25:28.560 --> 0:25:31.639 on his hands. Of course, this has made him a 0:25:31.920 --> 0:25:36.560 target of Western sanctions. However, his wife apparently now lives 0:25:36.640 --> 0:25:40.240 in Western Europe and is living it up big time. 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:43.680 We found out that she's been spending nearly a million 0:25:43.960 --> 0:25:48.360 US dollars to rent villas, yachts, and to purchase designer 0:25:48.400 --> 0:25:53.639 clothes priceless jewelry while her husband oversees the bloodshed caused 0:25:53.640 --> 0:25:59.840 by Russia in Ukraine. According to reports, Ivanov's wife received 0:25:59.840 --> 0:26:03.840 this money from companies that are doing reconstruction work in 0:26:04.040 --> 0:26:10.480 Russian occupied Maripol in Ukraine. This area was brutally raised 0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:17.639 the ground during the early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Still, 0:26:17.720 --> 0:26:22.040 after all of this, on April twenty third, twenty twenty four, 0:26:22.600 --> 0:26:27.399 Ivanov's successful career and peaceful family life came crashing down 0:26:27.520 --> 0:26:32.600 around him. He was detained by the FSB on the 0:26:32.600 --> 0:26:37.840 suspicion that he had received a massive bribe. Perhaps that's 0:26:38.040 --> 0:26:42.240 what his wife was spending out in Western Europe. The 0:26:42.280 --> 0:26:46.760 following day, the detention became an official arrest, and Ivanov 0:26:46.920 --> 0:26:53.040 lost his government titles. According to the FSB investigation, Ivanov 0:26:53.119 --> 0:26:57.000 worked with companies which bribed him to grant them lucrative 0:26:57.040 --> 0:27:01.240 construction contracts from the federal government. On April twenty fifth, 0:27:01.320 --> 0:27:04.679 all of his official accounts and assets were frozen by 0:27:04.680 --> 0:27:08.720 the Russian government. This even included anything owned by his 0:27:08.840 --> 0:27:12.120 ex wife, his current wife, his five kids, and even 0:27:12.160 --> 0:27:16.760 his parents. By the time Ivanov received an official sentence 0:27:17.200 --> 0:27:20.960 of thirteen years in prison in July twenty twenty five, 0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:26.000 he'd lost everything, including a Mercedes Benz, a Chevrolet Suv, 0:27:26.520 --> 0:27:30.119 and a fancy sports motorcycle. The government took it all 0:27:30.160 --> 0:27:34.160 off him and put it all to use elsewhere. Now, 0:27:34.200 --> 0:27:35.879 as I said at the start, keep a note of 0:27:35.920 --> 0:27:42.160 Ivanov's father and his company Crystal Development. From further research, 0:27:42.280 --> 0:27:46.080 it looks like that company ceased operations in November twenty 0:27:46.160 --> 0:27:51.200 twenty four and it was liquidated. Court documents suggests that 0:27:51.240 --> 0:27:55.000 the company received a number of government contracts. However, there 0:27:55.000 --> 0:27:58.320 were no details regarding what the government ordered or how 0:27:58.400 --> 0:28:02.720 much the contracts were worth. No official connection between father 0:28:02.800 --> 0:28:05.960 and son had been made, and no additional details can 0:28:06.000 --> 0:28:11.680 be found on Vadim Ivanov. All a bit fishy, and 0:28:11.800 --> 0:28:15.320 remember this is the man that Igor Kotelnikov was asked 0:28:15.359 --> 0:28:20.000 to turn witness against. The government wanted him to go 0:28:20.080 --> 0:28:23.160 to court and give evidence, but he said no, I'm 0:28:23.160 --> 0:28:26.120 not going to do that, which resulted in him being 0:28:26.160 --> 0:28:32.360 put into solitary confinement and dying whilst in there. It's 0:28:32.400 --> 0:28:34.080 clear to me that there was a lot more at 0:28:34.119 --> 0:28:39.479 stake for Kotelnikov. Him and Tima Ivanov were involved in 0:28:39.760 --> 0:28:44.440 cross department embezzlement, bribery and theft, and were funneling money 0:28:44.480 --> 0:28:47.640 out of the country into their own coffers and making 0:28:47.680 --> 0:28:51.479 sure they lived a very nice life. I think it's 0:28:51.560 --> 0:28:53.960 highly possible that some kind of deal was made and 0:28:54.000 --> 0:28:57.400 that Katelnikov was killed as a warning to anyone else 0:28:57.520 --> 0:29:04.080 involved in this ring. Now there's another man in this 0:29:04.280 --> 0:29:07.959 story who was connected, who died at a very convenient 0:29:08.080 --> 0:29:13.160 time for anyone involved in this embezzlement case. His name 0:29:13.440 --> 0:29:18.320 was Magomed Kandaiev. He was a former official in Russia's 0:29:18.360 --> 0:29:23.120 Ministry of Defense and was overseeing the quote examination department 0:29:23.960 --> 0:29:30.040 as well as a military construction unit. Now, surprise, surprise, 0:29:30.680 --> 0:29:35.120 he was hired and worked under Shogu and answered directly 0:29:35.320 --> 0:29:41.600 to Tima Ivanov. He was interrogated by investigators as a 0:29:41.680 --> 0:29:45.080 witness in the case of Ivanov, so he was not 0:29:45.320 --> 0:29:48.520 in the pre trial detention center, but he was brought 0:29:48.600 --> 0:29:53.400 in for questioning. This man could be a key part 0:29:53.520 --> 0:29:56.480 of the case in regards to giving evidence against the 0:29:56.560 --> 0:30:00.880 higher ups in this embezzlement ring. At least he could 0:30:00.920 --> 0:30:08.160 have been. Turns out, Maghamed Kandaiev is also dead. And 0:30:08.320 --> 0:30:14.080 get this, he died on July ninth, the exact same 0:30:14.240 --> 0:30:22.080 day as Aigor Katelnikov. Now there's no further information whatsoever 0:30:22.640 --> 0:30:26.200 about where or how, but we do know for certain 0:30:26.680 --> 0:30:32.400 that he died on this day, conveniently for the embezzlement 0:30:32.520 --> 0:30:37.360 ring higher ups, specifically the ones closest to putin all 0:30:37.400 --> 0:30:42.760 the witnesses to their further crimes are now six feet underground. 0:30:44.280 --> 0:31:06.440 What a stroke of luck You've been listening to? Sad 0:31:06.480 --> 0:31:10.480 Oliga season two Produced by H eleven Studios for Cool 0:31:10.560 --> 0:31:17.560 Zone Media. Writing, editing, producing, concept and recording by myself, 0:31:18.040 --> 0:31:24.480 Jake Hanrahan, Research and reporting by Sergei Slipchenko, me and 0:31:24.720 --> 0:31:31.720