Russian military blogger Roman Alekhin is now the subject of a criminal investigation on suspicion of fraud. Screenshot: 112 (Telegram)
Russian law enforcement agencies have launched an investigation into military blogger Roman Alekhin on suspicion of fraud, state-controlled news agency TASS reported earlier today. The Telegram channel 112, which has ties to the Russian security services, published hidden-camera footage that shows Alekhin explaining how to launder 200 million rubles (approximately $2.4 million) using medical aid intended for Russian troops in Ukraine. A foundation created by Alekhin, Blagodeteli (lit. “Benefactors”), claims to support “our army in the special military operation.”
In the video, Alekhin outlines a scheme in which an unnamed private company transfers 200 million rubles to his charitable foundation; a company affiliated with the donor then sells medicines to the foundation for 150 million rubles (close to $1.8 million), with the remaining sum (approximately $600,000) likely being pocketed by the blogger.
“The documents have to be done in such a way that neither I nor you will face any legal claims. We will act as though there are no schemes at all,” Alekhin says in the recording.
The video is compiled from several clips. One part was filmed in an office, and another outdoors (apparently in Kursk). In one conversation, Alekhin and another person discuss buying property under the guise of charity to later use for commercial purposes.
Alekhin: “[There’s] 1,200 square meters [here]. For 15 million [rubles] plus VAT, it’s ridiculous.” Companion: “Sooner or later this [war] will end. But the space will remain.”
In comments to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti, Alekhin said the footage was secretly recorded in May. He claimed his volunteers were contacted by people representing a certain “businessman Galitsky,” who, according to Alekhin, “strongly supports the front.”
According to Alekhin, the businessman proposed transferring 100 million rubles ($1.2 million) each month to Alekhin’s foundation, with two-thirds to be spent on medical equipment from companies affiliated with the businessman and the remaining third going to “the needs of the foundation.”
Later, however, the businessman allegedly changed the terms, telling Alekhin that he would receive 10% fewer goods than stated in the documents — for example, 90,000 vials of medicine instead of 100,000 — and that Alekhin would have to make up the shortfall himself.
It remains unclear whether Alekhin was referring to Sergei Galitsky, the billionaire founder of Magnit, one of Russia's biggest supermarket chains and cosmetics retailers. As of late Tuesday, neither he nor his representatives had commented on the video. His position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains unclear more than three years into the war.
The blogger insisted he never intended to keep any money for personal use and only thought about the needs of the soldiers. He also said he never agreed to the altered terms because he knew the arrangement “did not sound very legal.”
Reactions among Russia’s pro-war “Z” blogger community were divided. Some (1, 2) withheld judgment, citing a lack of data from law enforcement and saying the footage appeared “murky”:
“If the recording had been made by [law enforcement] operatives, Alekhin wouldn’t be giving interviews left and right right, but sitting in an investigator’s office. Overall, we’ll wait for the results of the probe. If he’s guilty, he’ll answer for it,” wrote the channel Zapiski Veterana (lit. “Notes of a Veteran”).
Others took a much harder line. The influential channel Rybar called for a “public, tough and fair” investigation, saying such cases “undermine trust in the entire volunteer community.” Another channel, Dva Maiora (lit. “Two Majors”), which also collects humanitarian aid for Russian troops, accused Alekhin of “betraying the entire volunteer movement.”
“Whether you discussed this with the aim of exposing the scheme to police, or you really thought it was possible to break the law for the sake of helping the front or personal profit — it doesn’t matter. The very fact that you allowed yourself to participate in such a discussion with anyone, under any pretext, means discrediting the whole volunteer effort. Do you think other military bloggers weren’t approached? They were, and they told [those making such offers] to go to hell immediately, at the first hint [of impropriety],” the channel wrote.
In late February, Alekhin said he had signed a contract with Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces unit and gone to the front. But by March 21, he announced he had canceled the contract. The next day he said signing it had been a mistake.
“The Defense Ministry simply corrected the mistake I made by signing the contract. I am a civilian manager, a social technologist, an analyst, a volunteer, a blogger in some sense, but not a soldier with combat skills. I am more useful in the civilian sector for the people and the Motherland,” he said at the time.
Nevertheless, after 23 days of service, the Akhmat special forces unit awarded Alekhin with three medals.
Alekhin also briefly worked as an adviser to former Kursk Region governor Alexei Smirnov, who is awaiting trial after being arrested earlier this year on charges of large-scale fraud. Roman Starovoit, Smirnov’s predecessor, committed suicide in early July. Multiple reports claimed Smirnov testified against Starovoit.