General Alexey Sedov, the current head of FSB’s Second Service, tasked with “the defence of constitutional government and countering terrorism,” is worth a billion rubles (or €18.5 million), according to “The FSB’s Bandit-in-Chief,” a new investigation published by Navalny Live on YouTube.
The FSB took over from the KGB. Standing (roughly) for Federal Security Board, its Second Service specialises in suppressing Russia’s political opposition. They conduct surveillance, harass and attack inconvenient figures, and make up lists of “foreign agents” and “undesirable organisations.” Alexey Sedov is currently in charge of this repressive organ so redolent of Stalinism, and the horrors of the Soviet past.
Team Navalny has established that Sedov owns a 5,000-square-foot house in Moscow’s elite Serebryany Bor neighbourhood, a private and scenic wooded area overlooking the Moscow River. The investigative team estimates the property’s value as 900 million rubles (about €16 million).
In the past, the Serebryany Bor property belonged to Mosdachtrest, a real estate company owned by the oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov. The property’s current registered owner is the Russian Federation. Team Navalny does not disclose the sources that allowed them to conclude that the address really does belong to Sedov.
According to the video, Sedov and his family own other real estate, valued at 25, 30, 35 and 70 million rubles (in the range, that is, roughly between €500,000 and €1.5 million – relatively huge sums in Russia).
The value of the real estate belonging to Sedov’s daughter was established by the investigative team “on the basis of food delivery orders.” This may be Team Navalny’s reference to a recent Yandex.Eda (translated as “Yandex.Food”) data leak.
In addition, members of Sedov’s family own an array of luxury cars, including a Gelandewagen — a G-class Mercedes SUV, marketed by Mercedes as a car “for those who live forever” in its “Immortal Love” campaign.
It is also asserted in the new video that Sedov’s grandchild was fathered by an Italian citizen, who owns additional real estate in Sicily.
Team Navalny
Meduza
Moscow Times