Investigation: Top Russian defense industry boss tries to lift sanctions, spills own secrets instead

Key findings:

• Two years ago, lawyers representing an offshore company went to court to unblock a superyacht that had been detained in a Spanish port due to its links to Sergei Chemezov, an associate of Vladimir Putin. Chemezov is believed to secretly own a number of luxury assets outside of Russia.
• Court filings studied by the Kyiv Independent revealed that the yacht changed hands several times.
• All three owners are believed to have served as proxies for Chemezov, part of a strategy to dodge sanctions and free up the asset.
• The yacht initially belonged to a Ukrainian arms shipping tycoon who invested in Trump Tower and collaborated with Chemezov. When the Ukrainian owner suddenly died, the yacht was handed over to Chemezov's stepdaughter.
• The U.S. authorities could move to seize the yacht, as they did with another Russian oligarch’s yacht, also in Spain.

In March 2025, an American law firm signed a deal to assist Russian national Sergei Chemezov with efforts to have sanctions against him lifted.

In a publicly available statement on the agreement, filed and disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), Chemezov is portrayed as "an internationally recognized businessman and philanthropist."

The document makes no mention of the fact that the Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec, which Chemezov has run for 18 years, manufactures weapons — and plays a central role in Russia’s war effort.

Rostec, headed by Chemezov, supplies up to 80% of the weapons used by the Russian army in its war against Ukraine, including fighter jets, combat helicopters, missiles, drones, tanks, and artillery systems.

Chemezov is a longtime friend of Vladimir Putin, dating back to their service in the notorious Soviet spy agency, the KGB. Chemezov seems to have his former spy friend’s trust, evident in his long tenure running Russia's arms behemoth Rostec.

The sanctions imposed on Chemezov by the U.S. and the EU in 2014, and extended to his family in 2022, are related precisely to Chemezov's role in Russia's war in Ukraine and his position in Putin's inner circle.

The sanctions have clearly irked Chemezov. After a second round of sanctions was imposed against him and his family in 2022, lawyers in the U.S. and in the EU were hired — some by Chemezov and his stepdaughter directly, others through an offshore firm — to challenge the restrictions.

The move had unexpected consequences. Attempts to unfreeze the most expensive foreign asset linked to Chemezov — a luxurious pleasure vessel — revealed the apparent proxy holders of Chemezov’s foreign assets.

The tangled trail of ownership surrounding Chemezov’s superyacht offers a rare glimpse into how Russia’s ruling elite maneuver to safeguard their wealth abroad and escape Western sanctions — and how Western law firms might be helping them.

The yacht that exposed secrets

The 85-meter superyacht Valerie, since 2022 renamed Meridian A, was built for pleasure sailing — but has now been idle for nearly 3.5 years.

The boat, worth a staggering $140 million, has not been allowed to leave the port of Barcelona since March 2022.

Spanish authorities detained the yacht shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, due to the vessel's alleged connection to Sergei Chemezov, a key figure in the Russian defense industry.

At that time, Chemezov was already subject to EU and U.S. sanctions imposed after Russia's 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, which meant that any assets he owned or controlled in the EU or U.S. would have been frozen.

While most likely the actual owner of the yacht, Chemezov's name has never appeared in the boat's ownership documents. Its formal owner was his stepdaughter Anastasia Ignatova, whose official profession as a Russian teacher would not suggest she has the income to purchase a $140 million yacht. But even her ownership was hidden behind a chain of offshore companies.

The fact that the yacht was registered to Chemezov's stepdaughter through offshore companies became public a few months before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) released its Pandora Papers investigative report, based on a leak of British Virgin Islands (BVI) trust documents.

In spring 2022, shortly after the yacht was detained, the EU and the U.S. added Chemezov's stepdaughter to their sanctions lists, reinforcing the ban on using or selling the yacht.

The vessel is the most expensive known asset linked to Chemezov, which may explain why lawyers immediately tried to challenge the restrictions.

Spanish attorneys, acting in the name of a BVI-registered offshore company that owns the yacht, attempted to challenge the authorities' decision to detain the yacht. They also appealed to the EU court to remove any mention of Chemezov's stepdaughter owning the yacht from the sanctions decisions.

The Kyiv Independent reviewed the Spanish court rulings.

The trial in Spain proved to be damning. Instead of releasing the yacht, it shed light on previously unknown circumstances, revealing exactly how Chemezov likely registered his foreign assets to conceal his ownership — and faced no scrutiny in Russia for his lavish lifestyle abroad.

The Spanish authorities were well prepared for the lawsuit. Spain's tax agency conducted its own study of the yacht ownership structure.

The agency found that the yacht's ownership was transferred to Chemezov's stepdaughter on April 17, 2018, after she acquired the BVI-registered company, Sightview Consultants Limited. This offshore firm owned shares in another BVI-registered company, Linkpoint Services Limited, which owned the yacht at that time.

Additionally, Spanish authorities found evidence suggesting that Chemezov may have actually controlled the yacht since its construction in 2011, but through another person, a Ukrainian.

Ukrainian connection, condo in Trump Tower

The Spanish court files don’t disclose the name of the man who was, at least formally, the first owner of the superyacht Valerie. Still, the files mention three important details about him.

He worked in the management of a subsidiary of the Russian conglomerate Rostec, headed by Chemezov. He was associated with MSA Marmara Yachting LLC, a company servicing yachts. He died suddenly at the end of 2017.

These details point to Borys Kogan, a businessman from Odesa, a Ukrainian city on the Black Sea coast. Kogan passed away in October 2017, reportedly of cardiac arrest, the day after celebrating his 61st birthday, the Kyiv Independent found. He was four years younger than Chemezov.

Kogan was co-owner of the Kaalbye Group, a former major player in the maritime transport of weapons.

The companies of the Kaalbye Group were registered in Ukraine and offshore jurisdictions. MSA Marmara Yachting, which provided crews for luxury yachts, was also part of the group.

Kaalbye was featured in global media publications for transporting Russia-produced weapons. Also, the company publicly stated that it had transferred NASA rockets to Orbital Sciences Corporation.

The Kaalbye Group website is no longer active, and some of its companies have been dissolved.

But while he ran a logistics business rooted in Ukraine, Kogan had a link to Russia’s high circles. He served on the board of directors of RT-Logistika, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec, headed by Chemezov. RT-Logistika was also involved in shipping Russian weapons.

According to data leaks about Russian citizens reviewed by the Kyiv Independent, Kogan had a Russian passport, in addition to his Ukrainian citizenship.

Kogan attracted the attention of the American press for investing nearly $2 million in a condo in Trump Tower. According to New York City property records reviewed by the Kyiv Independent, in 2012, Kogan issued a mortgage to his daughter, Julia Kogan, who bought the lavish corner apartment with views over Fifth Avenue and the Crown Building. In early 2017, she sold the apartment.

As the Kyiv Independent discovered, this was not the only property in the U.S. that Kogan invested in. In 2014, he also issued a mortgage of $700,000 to his other daughter, Arina Kogan, to buy an apartment in Brooklyn. The apartment was resold after Borys Kogan's death in 2020.

Kogan was considered the owner of the 50-meter yacht Lady K (previously Thunder B), which he reportedly bought from the descendants of deceased Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. The yacht was seen in Odesa, where Kogan lived.

"I heard him say that he bought it for several million dollars," a source familiar with Borys Kogan told the Kyiv Independent. The source spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter.

Yet, the new revelations by the Spanish authorities suggest that Kogan also owned the significantly more expensive 85-meter Valerie yacht on behalf of Putin's friend, Chemezov.

According to the Spanish tax agency, cited in the resolution of the High Court of Justice of Madrid, Kogan was behind the offshore companies Sightview Consultants and Linkpoint Services Limited, which were used as a chain to conceal the yacht's ownership.

After his death, Chemezov's stepdaughter was listed as the new owner of the companies — and with them, the yacht.

According to materials examined in the Spanish court, Kogan "maintained a relationship of subordination" with Chemezov regarding "wealth acquisition."

The court filings also show that Chemezov's family used the Valerie yacht when Kogan formally owned it.

New owner, possible document forgery

Court hearings in 2023 revealed that Chemezov's stepdaughter is likely no longer the formal owner of the yacht, though when the ownership changed remains unclear.

Russian businessman Albert Avdolyan has replaced her as the new owner.

The attorneys hired by the offshore company Sulberg Services Limited claim that Avdolyan purchased the yacht from Chemezov's stepdaughter in July 2021, which would mean he took ownership before sanctions were imposed on the stepdaughter.

According to the Madrid High Court's ruling, the court was shown a sales agreement dated July 2021, bank payment documents dated January 2022 (still before sanctions were imposed on the stepdaughter), and a certificate of beneficial ownership dated August 2022 (after the stepdaughter fell under sanctions).

Spanish authorities pointed to the striking time gap — more than a year — between the date of signing the sale agreement and the date on the beneficial ownership certificate.

The Spanish authorities concluded that the earliest officially confirmed date of the yacht sale was August 2022 and that attempts were made to imitate a pre-sanctions sale of the vessel.

The court ruling states that the Spanish authorities doubt the ownership structure of the yacht provided by the lawyers. In other words, they do not believe that Avdolyan really bought the yacht for himself and assume that he was acting as a proxy for Chemezov.

Avdolyan is closely associated with Chemezov.

He is a Russian billionaire who used to co-own the Russian telecommunications company YotaDevices together with the Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec, run by Chemezov.

The Spanish authorities cited in the court ruling compare Avdolyan's role regarding Chemezov's wealth to that of the late Borys Kogan. It reads this is a form of "fiducia cum amico," in which Avdolyan is a "trusted person (or proxy) who formally acts as the owner of the vessel."

In February 2025, the EU imposed sanctions on Avdolyan.

The appeal against the yacht immobilization was made on behalf of Sulberg Services Limited, which is represented in courts by Spanish lawyer Hector Sebastian Sbert Perez. He did not respond to questions emailed by the Kyiv Independent.

Could Spain or the U.S. forfeit the yacht?

A change of yacht ownership under sanctions could potentially be interpreted as an attempt to circumvent the restrictions.

"These circumstances point to one of the most common ways to circumvent sanctions. The fact that the agreement was signed between two private parties may mean that the sale of the yacht was backdated," says Tetiana Khutor, head of the Institute of Legislative Ideas, a Ukrainian legal think tank.

Interestingly, the attempt to circumvent sanctions could have occurred not only if the sale of the yacht actually took place in August 2022, after sanctions were imposed on Chemezov's stepdaughter.

Even if it happened, in July 2021, it could be considered sanctions evasion, lawyers say. At that time, Chemezov was already under EU and U.S. sanctions in regard to Russia's invasion of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, which provided for the freezing of the resources he controlled even indirectly.

"The yacht was already frozen in substance from 2014 onwards," said Anatoly Yarovyi, a senior partner at the Cyprus-based Collegium of International Lawyers.

"This means that, legally, it could not have been sold in 2021 or 2022, regardless of the fact that Chemezov's stepdaughter was not yet designated at that time."

That is, the sale of the yacht to Avdolyan should not have taken place in either 2021 or 2022.

Under Spanish law, sanctions evasion is not yet a criminal offense, as it has not been formally codified, and Spanish authorities cannot, on their own, seize a yacht solely on the grounds of sanctions evasion.

"To date, Spanish law provides for administrative liability for sanctions violations,” says Tetiana  Khutor.

However, according to experts, Spanish authorities could potentially pursue other crimes, such as document forgery or money laundering.

Moreover, the U.S. could also get involved in the case.

"A notable parallel is the seizure of notorious Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg’s yacht Tango in Mallorca, carried out by Spanish authorities in cooperation with the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture," Yarovyi says.

"The U.S. affidavit alleged a conspiracy to conceal ownership via offshore vehicles — constituting bank fraud, money laundering, and sanctions evasion. This led to a seizure warrant and asset forfeiture proceedings."

American jurisdiction over the alleged crimes was found because payments for maintenance on the yacht were made through correspondent bank accounts in the U.S.

Therefore, if the U.S. found the grounds to do so, it could pursue the forfeiture of the yacht linked to Chemezov.

Lawyers worth millions of dollars

Although attempts to unblock the yacht in Spain proved unsuccessful, the Chemezov family did not give up.

In November 2024, an application was filed with the General Court of the EU to challenge the EU Council's decisions regarding sanctions against Chemezov's stepdaughter. Judging by the absence of a publicly available court decision, the issue has not yet been considered by the court.

Senior Counsel at the Bar of Ireland, Carsten Zatschler, who represents Ignatova's interests, declined to comment, citing the Code of Conduct.

In March 2025, Chemezov signed an agreement with American lawyers to file out-of-court appeals challenging the U.S. sanctions. The contract is not only in his interests, but also in the interests of his right-hand man at Rostec, Vasily Brovko.

The contract stipulates that lawyers may apply to U.S. authorities for specific licenses allowing sanctioned individuals to conduct certain transactions in the U.S. and for delisting requests seeking removal of the U.S. sanctions.

"There are forms that people fill out in order to try to either get approval for some activities or to get themselves off of sanctions. So that is exactly what's happening," explains Benjamin L. Schmitt, senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Perry World House.

Lawyers from the American companies Rathmell Short LLP and Stryk Global Diplomacy, who are involved in the contract, did not respond to questions about their activities and whether they had been successful.

The value of agreements with European lawyers, concluded on behalf of the offshore company Sulberg Services and on behalf of Chemezov's stepdaughter, remains unknown.

However, the value of the agreement, disclosed under FARA, with American lawyers is staggering. It amounts to $2.6 million for two clients, Chemezov and Brovko.

Yudisud Tjong Trading LLC, a trading company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, made the payment. The trading company was established in July 2024, just eight months before the agreement with the lawyers was signed. According to international trade records, the company purchased several batches of men's clothing in India after its establishment — all that is known about its trading operations.

According to data from the Dubai Department of Economy and Development provided to the Kyiv Independent by the U.K.-based Diligencia Group, which gathers corporate registry data across the Middle East and Africa, the owner of the paying company is listed as Indonesian citizen Yudisud Tjong.

Why would a UAE company owned by an Indonesian citizen pay millions of dollars to American lawyers to help sanctioned executives of a Russian arms conglomerate? Yudisud Tjong Trading LLC did not respond to an email from the Kyiv Independent.

An equally interesting question is why Chemezov decided to challenge the U.S. sanctions against him, given that his known foreign assets, such as villas and a yacht, are in the EU.

"There are several reasons why individuals such as Chemezov may work towards sanctions removal in the U.S., even if the majority of their sanctioned property is located in Europe," said Anastassia Fedyk, an assistant professor of finance at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

In addition to facilitating certain activities in the U.S., such as banking transactions, they may try to use the case in the EU. "If they perceive the U.S. administration to be more amenable to removing certain restrictions right now, they can choose that as an opening and potentially hope to use it as a precedent for litigating EU sanctions designations further down the line," Fedyk believes.

Yet, there has been no visible progress in easing international sanctions against Chemezov and his family. Moreover, attempts to unblock the yacht have yielded additional information about individuals Chemezov may have used to register his property.

Note from the author:

Hi! This is Alisa Yurchenko, the author of this story. This investigation exposes the deep hypocrisy of Putin’s inner circle — those waging a hybrid war against the West while quietly safeguarding their wealth and comfort in Western countries. It’s also a story about justice. Spain’s recent decisions show that weak legal excuses are no longer enough to shield those who try to play both sides.

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