On January 14, The Telegraph published a policy article by former British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace titled «We must imprison Russia and build high walls. The article is iconic and reflects the Western elites’ view of Russia and its people, as well as their understanding of their aggressive nature and the destructive influence they have on world security.
Russia is a criminal state that should be isolated similar to the way criminals are isolated.
«The last three years have shown that this criminal and fascist regime goes far beyond a few embittered old men from the KGB. It turns out that the Russians not only support the invasion, but also support the use of torture, mass murder, assassination attempts, and cyberattacks.
As with Adolf Hitler’s Germany, Russia’s actions are only possible because of widespread support among its citizens. One feature of the Soviet Union was the hundreds of Russian dissidents who boldly spoke out or campaigned from exile. This time, the number of those who are doing so is in the neighborhood of a few,» Wallace writes.
Further, he is absolutely accurate in noting: «Most Russians abroad, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Cyprus or European capitals, believe Putin is right (while shielding their sons from conscription).»
Most Western politicians no longer have any illusions about the Russian population. They realize that this is not about Putin and his regime. It’s about the underlying essence of Russian society, its caveman worldview, and animal cruelty. Wallace perfectly understands the nature of Russians — they are cruel barbarians, eternal aggressors, enemies of civilization, supporting the crimes of their rulers. Russians with delight and pleasure torture and kill Ukrainians en masse, with delight destroy Ukrainian cities, loot the occupied territories and the population in the occupied regions, and hundreds of thousands steal Ukrainian children and forcibly export them to Russia. Horde.
The Kremlin authorities and the population under their control have the same mentality and set of values, which makes them systemic enemies of Western civilization. In Russia, the authorities and the people — a single entity with common goals and methods of achieving them. This poses a serious threat to those countries where Russian diasporas exist, as they are all instruments of Moscow’s influence, advancing its interests and undermining the security and stability of those states.
«So what to do about this bandit state?» asks Wallace. «Well, I believe that, like other bandits, Russia belongs behind bars: prison bars of its own making.»
Wallace continues, «At the moment, despite the sanctions, Russia is acting as if nothing has happened. Our Western capitals and private schools are still full of wealthy Putin supporters.
So in 2025, we have to make sure the West starts building high prison walls. We must patch the holes and lock the doors. We must also use our collective diplomacy to put pressure on places like Cyprus, the UAE, and Switzerland to stop these countries from being used as playgrounds for the Russian elite.»
Wallace didn’t mention Cyprus by accident and it’s no coincidence that he mentioned it first among other countries. Moscow has long ago turned the island into its «backyard», making it a place of secret storage of the Russian elite’s assets and at the same time a base for its intelligence services.
The Cyprus Daily News has repeatedly published stories about Russian influence in Cyprus, citing specific facts and warning of the threat to the security of the island and the European Union as a whole.
As if specifically to confirm the validity of Wallace’s words, on January 16, the Russian Forbes, owned by the Kremlin oligarch Magomed Musaev, whose biography and activities are inextricably linked to the KGB and FSB (which is essentially the same thing), published an article by Ilya Zhegulev under the title «Northern importation: How Russian-speaking migrants have changed Cyprus».
The article bears all the hallmarks of commissioned material and is written in an emphatically subservient and complimentary tone towards its customers. Kremlin propaganda resources, such as Tsargrad, promptly disseminated the article, which once again emphasizes its commissioned nature and indicates coordinated actions between Putin’s propaganda machine and Russian businessmen living in Cyprus.
The main message of the article can be summarized into two key theses: «Russians have brought civilization, culture, education, IT, carsharing, and proper Greek taverns to Cyprus» and «It is scary to imagine how the wild and unintelligent islanders would live without the wise and enlightened Russians».
We should also note the boundless arrogance and smugness of the article’s customers. They seek to present themselves as some sort of «saviors» and «civilizers» of Cyprus, without whom, in their opinion, the island could not have developed and prospered. This is a common narrative of Kremlin propaganda about the superiority and indispensability of Russians abroad. An outside observer, after reading this article, may get the impression that these people have already solved all the problems in their homeland, built a prosperous and civilized state there, and now have come to Cyprus in the role of «wise mentors» to help the local natives to create civilization. Questions arise: have you already solved all the problems in Russia that you came to «save» Cyprus? Or is the reason for your stay on the island in another way?
The article describes in enthusiastic tones the achievements of several dozen Russian businessmen who, in their opinion, have «changed Cyprus for the better». It frankly describes how they influence the authorities of the country, and their activities are presented as a civilizing mission. At the same time, the local population is portrayed as primitive, and incapable of development without Russian leadership.
The article begins: «In November 2024 it became known that the Cypriot authorities deprived 77 foreign investors, including seven Russian billionaires, of their «golden passports». The island’s economy is unlikely to lose much from this — a huge number of new wave of Russian speakers have settled here, who, without claiming citizenship for investment, are actively changing Cyprus for the better, introducing new technologies and services, developing catering, culture and even transforming local legislation».
In other words, the author frankly, with undisguised arrogance writes that although seven Russian billionaires were deprived of their Cypriot passports, it is not a problem for Russians. There are now so many of them in Cyprus that the locals simply have no chance to avoid Russification. In fact, the Russians have occupied the island (other terms are inappropriate when it comes to Russians), are building infrastructure exclusively for their needs, and are changing local laws to suit their interests.
The Russian Forbes correspondent begins his story about Russian businessmen living on the island with Alexander Shkuratov, praising his supposed «services» to Cyprus.
Shkuratov moved to Cyprus in 2015 and decided that he had «nowhere to give his children — education on the island was poor.» He didn’t like Cypriot education and decided to build a school of his choosing for his children. And he built «The Island Private School» for 10 million euros.
According to Russian Forbes, «Through local IT specialists, Shkuratov managed to reach out to the government with a request to help open the new school as soon as possible, and the officials, surprisingly, were responsive». The article specifies that Shkuratov was given the green light to open the school and was supported at the government level with the help of the «Techisland» association.
Responsiveness of officials, not only local but any other, does not just happen out of nowhere. Everyone would like to know what exactly prompted the Cypriot government ministers, who are often criticized by the press for their slowness and inability to make decisions without lengthy approvals, to respond so quickly and actively to the Russian businessman’s request. What motives are behind this «special attention» and support at such a high level?
According to Shkuratov, «five government ministers» of the Republic of Cyprus, (education, interior, energy, transport, and labor) were personally involved in the construction of his school. Curiously, are these ministers also personally involved in the construction of other schools? For what merits Shkuratov was given the most favorable treatment and contracted for as many as five ministers, the article does not explain.
Here it should be clarified that the school built by Shkuratov is not a charitable project, but a business on which he makes money. In fact, the Cypriot government ministers, at the request of the IT guys from the Techisland association, using their administrative resources, bypassing the generally accepted rules and legal procedures, helped Shkuratov to build a highly profitable enterprise.
The personality of the school owner is curious. Some facts of his biography explain how he could have connections in the Cypriot establishment and among influential Russian «IT guys in civilian clothes», capable of changing the laws of the country and having an influence on the government of the Republic.
In 2012, Alexander Shkuratov took the position of advisor to the president and chairman of the board of directors of Etalon Group Vyacheslav Zarenkov, a company registered in Cyprus.
Vyacheslav Zarenkov is a prominent figure of the Russian security services’ agents of influence in Cyprus. As philanthropist, Zarenkov built the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle in 2017 in the Tamasos Metropolis in Cyprus, which became an agent center for Russian intelligence and a venue for pro-Russian propaganda events.
In September 2014, already after the occupation of Crimea and the beginning of the war against Ukraine, Shkuratov became a member of the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation, effectively becoming an official of the Russian government.
Alexander Shkuratov maintains close relations with Natalia Kardash and participates in events organized by her. Since Kardash is inextricably linked to the Russian embassy and special services, this fact, along with others, indicates his close contacts with Russian structures operating in Cyprus.
The natural questions arise: does Cyprus need such an investor? Doesn’t his presence on the island, as well as his connections with the Russian government and obvious agents of the Russian intelligence services, pose a threat to the country’s security?
After the story of Shkuratov and his school, Forbes Russia’s correspondent takes an excursion into the history of Cyprus’ problems over the past two decades. At the same time, he emphasizes that all these problems allegedly occurred due to the fault of the Cypriots and as a result of the fact that the island became a member of the European Union.
This passage unambiguously demonstrates that we are looking at blatant Kremlin propaganda, which, however, is quite expected from a publication owned by a Russian oligarch with strong ties in the Kremlin and the FSB. This propaganda technique serves the obvious purpose of discrediting the European Union and showing Cyprus’ dependence on Russian money.
Kremlin propagandist Zhegulev writes: «Cyprus has found another gold mine, and it, too, turned out to be largely connected with expats from Russia and neighboring countries. Technology companies began to bring money and people to the island.»
Lucky for the Cypriots, they brought in another batch of Russians just in time.
The author lists technological companies and their contribution to the Cypriot economy. He starts with the Belarusan companies ASBIS and Wargaming, apparently without distinguishing between Belarusans and Russians.
At the same time, Zhegulev forgot to mention that one of the co-owners of Wargaming, Ivan Mikhnevich, was among the founders of the Russian party EOP, created by the Russian intelligence services as part of a special operation to introduce their agents into the Cypriot establishment. Cyprus Daily News wrote about this in detail in the articles «Operation Party» and «Operation Party 2«. This information was later confirmed by an OCCRP investigation. The journalists presented evidence that the creation of the Russian emigrants’ party was planned in Moscow and received the approval of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov (Kalantarian).
The Forbes article was written based on Zhegulev’s communication with Russian businessmen living in Cyprus. Among them is producer Pavel Muntian, who rightly has a reputation for decency, and his status as a foreign agent and the verdict of Putin’s court serve as proof of his high moral character. He has clearly and unequivocally condemned the criminal war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine, objectively assesses the role of the majority of Russians in this crime, and helps Ukraine in its struggle against the evil empire.
However, despite his position, he gives interviews to Russian propaganda publications such as the Russian Forbes and the Vestnik Kipra and maintains relations with Russian businessmen living in Cyprus, whose ties to the Russian security services are obvious. Whether he does this out of naivety or for other reasons is unknown.
It should be noted that the large and well-organized Russian-speaking IT community in Cyprus has never publicly condemned the Russian aggression against Ukraine or expressed support for the Ukrainian state and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Despite assurances by individuals calling themselves leaders of the Russian opposition, which does not exist in nature, that the majority of Russians who have moved to Cyprus over the past three years are allegedly against the Putin regime and the war in Ukraine, there is no evidence of organized anti-Putin protest activity among these people. On the contrary, many indications point to the fact that the majority of relocants are loyal to Putin’s regime and hold pro-Russian, patriotic views. These people can reasonably be considered the Kremlin’s fifth column and a recruiting base for the Russian security services, not to mention that this group of people has long been penetrated by Russian intelligence agents.
Then Zhegulev moves on to a story about Russian businessmen from the IT sphere living in Cyprus. However, for some reason, he doesn’t write about the fact that at least some of their companies in Russia work under the FSB license, which means that they cooperate with the Russian security services. There are no IT companies in the Russian Federation that could avoid this cooperation. Moreover, many of them use SORM systems developed by the FSB to listen to telephone conversations and intercept Internet traffic, providing the intelligence services with full control and surveillance of users and their employees.
There is no doubt that these companies retain ties with the Russian security services after their relocation to Cyprus.
The huge Russian IT community on the island is constantly generating new ideas and expanding its influence. There is nothing wrong with this unless these people are not connected with the Russian special services and do not work in their interests. And this is a very big problem in Cyprus.
Like all emigrant communities, Russian IT workers in Cyprus have developed their own, exclusively inherent traditions. These customs are connected not only with their professional interests but also help them to keep their usual way of life in the new conditions: Russian baths, karaoke, New Year’s Eve, and other holidays according to the Soviet calendar.
Every week, in Limassol, on the seashore, in the favorite bar of Russian spies operating in Cyprus under various disguises, as well as some members of the cooperative «Ozero», serving as Putin’s «wallets» in Cyprus, meetings of Russian IT workers are held.
These events are organized by Oleg Reshetnikov — who calls himself the unofficial IT ambassador of Cyprus, founder of the Cypriot IT community, godfather of the IT community, partner of the IT association TechIsland, and lobbyist for the interests of Russian IT workers who have moved to Cyprus.
Sergey Osipov, one of Wargaming’s executives, told Russian propagandist Zhegulev that «Reshetnikov creates the feeling of a real city, of a country: thanks to such people there is comfort, exchange, it is clear where to go.» At the same time, Osipov said that in Cyprus «everything is local» and, jokingly, called the island «Baranovichi on the border with Syria.» According to him, Cyprus is a remote Middle Eastern village, where he, a native of highly developed Belarus, lacks «the feeling of a real city, of a country».
The question arises: if Osipov is so dissatisfied with life in Cyprus, why doesn’t he return to his homeland, where he can fully enjoy both «the feeling of the real Minsk» and all the «charm of life in Belarus»? Instead, he continues to suffer in Cyprus from discomfort and parochialism. Poor guy, somebody buys him a ticket to Minsk.
What Osipov didn’t tell us is that his company is working closely with the Russian authorities. Wargaming, together with the Russian Ministry of Defense, launched a project to assist military history museums in Russia called «We Remember Everything.» As part of this project, in 2014, already after the occupation of Crimea, the company held several propaganda military-patriotic events in Moscow. Moreover, Wargaming gave the Russian Ministry of Defense access to the databases that store user accounts of the World of Tanks game. Player rankings help the Russian defense ministry form new tank units for the war against Ukraine.
Nikolai Nebyshynets, another Russian IT guy, confirmed Osipov’s words to a Russian Forbes reporter, adding that «Reshetnikov is building tight communications with the government as part of IT development.» According to him, «Oleg really influences the way the government looks at everything. He has become a powerful driver of everything new.»
How a Russian citizen, with opaque employment and unclear status, with no visible merit to the Republic of Cyprus, got the opportunity to influence the island’s government, Nebyshynets and Osipov did not explain.
What is Reshetnikov’s level of access, connections, motives, and the mechanisms he uses to shape the public policy of an EU member state? Considering the sophisticated methods of the Russian special services to infiltrate their agents into the government circles of Western countries, these questions would not be unreasonable to ask some government agencies responsible for the security of the country.
Born in the town of Tyukalinsk, Omsk region, Oleg Reshetnikov lived for a long time in Volgodonsk, Rostov region. In 2011, he was prosecuted under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for large-scale fraud. It is not known how this criminal case ended, as access to Russian court registers is now restricted.
In 2014, Reshetnikov moved to Cyprus with his family, but according to some reports, he retained ties with Russia and continues to travel there. In 2019, he received a new driver’s license in Volgodonsk.
In Cyprus, he immediately began to form an IT community of Russians and natives of the former Soviet Union. However, there is no information about his specialized education or work experience in IT.
At the same time, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the self-proclaimed «IT ambassador of Cyprus» repositioned himself as a coronavirus expert by hosting an author’s program on the «Russian Radio of Cyprus». This radio is one of the Russian-language pro-Kremlin resources on the island and is controlled by the Russian security services operating in Cyprus under diplomatic cover. The owners of the radio station are frequent guests at the Russian Embassy in Nicosia.
Reshetnikov is a frequent guest at conferences supervised by the Russian Embassy and organized by Natalia Kardash, an agent of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
The Russian Forbes article then moves on to the main point for which it was written. Zhegulev lists the names of major Russian businessmen who have taken control of the IT sector of the economy of Cyprus, a member country of the European Union, and talks about their achievements. Here are some quotes from his article:
«In April 2020, there was news that Cypriot IT companies decided to donate €1 million to the state fund. The money went to support hospitals and also to fight the effects of the coronavirus on the island. «We may not all have been born in Cyprus, but Cyprus is our home. And we have no choice but to support the community we are part of,» Alexei Gubarev, former co-owner of hosting company Servers.com and co-investor of photo app Lensa AI, said at the time. Indeed, not all of the contributors were born in Cyprus. More precisely, none of them were born there.»
The article names the companies and their owners who «donated:
— Servers.com (moved to Cyprus from Russia in 2002, founded by Alexei Gubarev);
— The Soul Publishing, created by Adme website founders Pavel Radaev and Marat Mukhamedov;
— WiseBits, controlled by two Russians; (Oleg Netepenko and Dmitry Gusev, owners of pornographic hosting site xHamster — CDN); and
— Easybrain, a mobile game developer launched by Belarusians;
— Embria Foundation, founded by Russian Igor Monakhov;
— Vladimir Zakoulov’s FunCorp;
— Haxus by Belarusian entrepreneur Yuri Gursky (together with Alexei Gubarev — CDN);
— Ecommpay.com and Ecommbanx.com by Russian-speaking Riga-based Alexei Siarki;
— AdGuard, founded by Russian-born Igor Lukyanov.»
«Alexei Gubarev has become the informal leader of this highly influential IT crowd on the island. In 2021, he created the TechIsland association, which includes more than 200 companies, most of which have Russian roots.»
«In 2021, TechIsland invested in overcoming the consequences of the fires, donating to the state another almost € 1 million. In parallel, entrepreneurs engaged their employees to provide Cypriot officials with the necessary data to lobby for certain legislative norms», — writes Forbes.
The phrase: «…entrepreneurs engaged their employees to provide Cypriot officials with the necessary data to lobby for certain legislative norms» is key and raises serious suspicions. Questions arise: who are these «employees» and in what ranks are they?
Nikita Daniels, development director of the gaming holding company GDEV, strengthens suspicions by specifying, «They employed a huge number of data-science analysts who calculated, analyzed, and then showed presentations to the government on how the new regulations would help the island attract more talent.» The vast majority of the «talent» that has come to Cyprus through these efforts is from Russia, or people with ties to it.
«This was done to make it easier for Russian-speaking companies to entice IT workers to move,» Zhegulev writes in plain text and adds: «And here, too, Gubarev and his organization helped by pushing through employment opportunities for family members of company employees who moved to the island.»
In 2024 alone, 12,000 «specialists» from Russia entered Cyprus on work visas, which is 161% more than in the previous year. How many among them are officers of the FSB, GRU, and SVR, as well as recruited agents, only Moscow knows.
Undoubtedly, Alexei Gubarev has tremendous influence on the government of Cyprus, if he managed to secure legislative privileges for immigrants from Russia, disguising it as a concern for «talents». It is noteworthy that the government does not envisage similar relaxations and support measures for immigrants from other categories.
What will be the consequences for Cyprus from such activities is a rhetorical question. A massive influx of «talents» from Russia, a significant part of whom have ties with the Russian special services, will inevitably undermine the security of Cyprus and the EU as a whole. It is obvious that Moscow’s influence on the island’s government policy will grow, and the agent network of the Russian security services will expand and strengthen.
As for the size of the mentioned donations, against the background of the financial capabilities of these people, they look rather symbolic, if not ridiculous. The amounts allocated for charity are clearly not comparable to their colossal incomes. Such a gesture looks more like an attempt to create a positive image than real support for Cypriot society.
Their expenditures on corporate holidays, on the purchase of tonic powders, on shamanic practices with the use of ayahuasca, on the replenishment of gold bullion collections, on private performances of Russian artists, and foreign entertainment, such as private jet trips to Kyrgyzstan, as well as on gambling, which is prohibited in the country, are many times higher than the amounts donated to the needs of Cyprus.
In an obviously customized article, it is openly stated for the first time that the TechIsland association was created by Alexei Gubarev. Previously, he was mentioned only as a co-founder. This was no secret to anyone before, but this fact was never publicly stated anywhere. Now the «leader of the most influential IT crowd on the island» needed an official recognition of his key role in the creation of the association. Probably, it is connected with the change in the situation in the organization. Gubarev’s political ambitions or other goals that require strengthening his public image and influence may be behind them. Or he just wanted fame…..
It is important to note that Gubarev reacts extremely aggressively to any unauthorized references in the press about his person, even the most innocuous.
In such cases, his lawyers immediately send letters to the editors of the media threatening legal proceedings and criminal prosecution and demanding to remove the publication. Knowing this, many media outlets ignore Gubarev, as few would want to sue a man with unlimited financial resources and unlimited influence on all branches of government. Thanks to this, he skillfully created an «information vacuum» around him, making his activities non-transparent.
However, Gubarev makes an exception for an agent of Russian intelligence, Natalia Kardash, who is a partner of Techisland. He gives interviews to information resources under her control and takes part in conferences organized by her. Such selectivity speaks volumes.
Thanks to Gubarev’s efforts, in recent years several hundred IT companies have relocated from Russia to Cyprus. In the Russian Federation, they worked under the FSB license, and there are practically no others there. Many of them continue to work in the interests of the Russian security services while already in Cyprus. Often these companies bring with them a full staff, including the so-called chiefs of security departments. In Russia, these positions are always filled, and there are no exceptions, by people from the special services, the so-called officers of the active reserve — officers of the FSB, GRU, and SVR, embedded in business structures to perform intelligence tasks and control the activities of companies. Among ordinary employees, there are also many officers of special services pretending to be IT specialists. It is naive to believe that FSB, GRU, and SVR could miss such an incredibly convenient opportunity to embed and legalize their spies and saboteurs in the EU.
The absurdity of the situation is that these people are now legally in Cyprus, freely engaged in espionage activities, organizing hacker attacks on the critical infrastructure of the EU, the U.S., and other democratic states, and waiting for accelerated obtaining of Cypriot citizenship thanks to the law «on talents» adopted by the Cypriot Parliament with the help of Gubarev.
Alexei Gubarev is an extremely successful agent of Russian political influence in Cyprus. Thanks to the accelerated naturalization procedure under the «talents» law, the «talents» he imported from Russia and their families will soon receive Cypriot citizenship and the right to vote.
The idea of creating their political party has long been discussed among Russian «IT» workers. If this idea is realized, the leaders of the IT community will be able to secure seats in the parliament with the help of consolidated voting of «talents» completely dependent on them. In a few years, the number of loyal voters, who received citizenship through a fast-track procedure thanks to Gubarev, is guaranteed to be sufficient for the realization of this project.
Considering that in small Cyprus the difference in votes between candidates in presidential elections is often only a few percent, a significant increase in the number of Russian-speaking citizens will provide the Russian security services and leaders of the IT community with an additional and powerful tool of political influence, significantly strengthening their positions and expanding their ability to influence the country’s politics.
From this moment on, the natives of Russia — and thus the Russian security services — will determine the outcome of the presidential elections in the country and the government will be in their hands. As a result, the island will finally turn into a branch of the Kremlin in the Mediterranean.
Despite the obvious risks, the authorities of Cyprus and the European Union ignore what is happening.
Another curious detail: former colleagues of Jan Marsalek, Wirecard’s chief operating officer and a recruited GRU agent who fled to Russia after his exposure in 2020, have registered a company called payabl. in Cyprus. This company is part of the TechIsland association and its CEO, Ugne Buraciene, has been a member of TechIsland’s board of directors since October 2023.
Alexei Gubarev is a figure both famous and mysterious. Despite his public accomplishments in business and the creation of TechIsland, many aspects of his activities remain in the shadows, which gives rise to certain speculations. One gets the impression that he is deliberately trying to hide many details of his activities from the public.
His name resounded in the world media after BuzzFeed published a dossier compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele in early 2017. The dossier claimed that Gubarev was recruited by Russian intelligence services and played an important role in hacking attacks on the servers of the US Democratic Party. As a result of the publication, Gubarev filed a lawsuit against BuzzFeed, claiming that his reputation had been damaged and he had suffered damages. In response to the threat of litigation, BuzzFeed removed Gubarev’s name from the article and apologized to him. The court hearings continued for several years. In late 2018, the court dismissed Gubarev’s lawsuit, pointing out that BuzzFeed had the right to publish the dossier as part of a state investigation. In November 2021, Gubarev decided to end his litigation with BuzzFeed, accepting the court’s ruling that the publication had acted within its rights.
A judicial investigation related to Alexei Gubarev’s interference in the U.S. election did not result in his prosecution. Although Gubarev was implicated in the scandal, no formal charges have been brought against him.
In October 2020, the Miami Herald published an investigation in which it was stated that the state broadcaster of Iran, despite US sanctions, was conducting propaganda in other countries of the world with the help of the American division of Webzilla company owned by the Cypriot company XBT Holdings, whose owner is Alexei Gubarev.
For reference — the company XBT Holdings, created by Russians Gubarev and Dvas, was the first foreign company that was allowed to work with servers in Russia, which in Russian reality is impossible without cooperation with the FSB.
Gubarev carefully hides his biography. It is known that he was born in Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk region, and has been an honorary citizen of this city since 2020.
He also claims that he studied at the University of Novosibirsk, at what faculty — does not specify. According to some information, at the same time, he was on the staff of the Ministry of Health of the Novosibirsk region.
According to rumors, the Soviet-Russian cosmonaut Alexei Gubarev is his uncle, but this information is nowhere confirmed.
The website of the Ust-Ilimsk administration published an anecdotal story related to the «Cypriot» Alexei Gubarev and cosmonaut Alexei Gubarev:
«On April 12, the Day of Cosmonautics, we remember that Ust-Ilimsk has a direct relation to this holiday.
On May 21, 1980, the city was visited by Alexey Alexandrovich Gubarev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut. The meeting was attended by a resident of the city Lyudmila Gubareva, who was expecting a child. The cosmonaut’s story made a great impression on her. A month later she gave birth to a boy, and she named him Alexei. Alexei Gubarev, an honorary citizen of the city, did not become a cosmonaut, but achieved cosmic results in the IT business.»
Obviously, this note is a clumsy attempt of provincial officials to flatter a fellow countryman — philanthropist. Perhaps it was done to motivate Gubarev to make additional donations to the city budget, but it looks more comical than convincing.
According to available information, Lyudmila Ivanovna Gubareva, the mother of Alexei Gubarev, on February 5, 2018, applied for citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus under the «Citizenship in Exchange for Investment» program. Already on October 9, 2018, she was granted Cypriot citizenship by decision number 85926.
Where did a modest employee of the administration of the city of Ust-Ilimsk and the owner of a beauty salon in the same city get two and a half million euros to buy the citizenship of an EU member state — the question is rhetorical. However, it should be noted that Alexei Gubarev showed commendable care for his parents.
About Alexei Gubarev’s father, Alexander Gubarev, it is known that he was engaged in business in the field of logging, as well as trade in oil products and used cars from Japan. In 2010, he was convicted under three articles of the Russian Criminal Code:
Article 159 — fraud;
Article 264 — violation of traffic rules resulting in negligent infliction of serious harm to human health;
Article 199 — tax evasion.
According to information available to the editorial board, Alexander Gubarev is also a holder of citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus. It is still unclear how he obtained it — as a spouse of a Cypriot citizen, under an investment program, or by naturalization. However, in all three cases, the granting of Cypriot citizenship to him was probably carried out in violation of the current legislation, as a person with a criminal past has no right to obtain citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus. Perhaps, Alexander Gubarev provided the Cypriot authorities with false data, hiding this fact. It is also possible that he obtained a Cypriot passport due to the influence of his son on the government structures of the country.
This case requires a thorough investigation by independent anti-corruption bodies, preferably not connected with local structures, which often show excessive loyalty to Russian businessmen and officials.
Over the past few years, Alexei Gubarev has registered dozens of companies in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Britain, and other countries. Some of them either have nothing to do with his core business in IT or are only remotely related to it. For example, among them, there are companies engaged in the jewelry business and trading in precious metals. It is noteworthy that these companies are registered to him under different spellings of his name, such as ALEXEY GUBAREV, ALEXEJ GUBAREV, ΑΛΕΞΕΥ ΓΚΟΥΜΠΑΡΕΒ, ALEXEF GKOUMPAREV. This is done to make it more difficult to search databases. This technique is used by many businessmen from Russia to hide their assets.
The same Russian Forbes, which is the only publication Gubarev trusts to publish important data about him, reported in July 2023 that Alexei Gubarev renounced his Russian citizenship shortly after the start of Russia’s large-scale military invasion of Ukraine. However, the magazine did not explain why this information remained secret for more than a year.
According to our version, the decision to make this information public could have been related to the publications about Gubarev’s ties with the war criminal Mazurovsky in March and April 2023. Such a step was probably taken to create a legal basis for denying any connection with Russia and Putin’s regime.
However, this does not prevent Gubarev from traveling to Russia regularly. According to the information we have, he visited Moscow in October 2023, as well as in February and September 2024, staying in a luxury apartment he bought in the Federation Tower in Moscow City, registered to his mother, Lyudmila Gubareva. In addition, in September 2024, he traveled with her to his native Ust-Ilimsk.
Ludmila Gubareva, author of the Babka Yezhka collection, and project sponsor Alexei Gubarev at the presentation of the «Forest Fairy Tale» hall (Ust-Ilimsk 14.09.2024)
This seems strange for a man who renounced the citizenship of the aggressor state immediately after the large-scale military invasion of Ukraine. But it is quite understandable for a man who retains ties with certain structures and performs specific tasks in the interests of Russia.
He may have come to negotiate the sale of the company «Edinaia Set» LLC, co-owners of which until December 2024 were his mother, Cypriot citizen Lyudmila Ivanovna Gubareva, and the brother of his longtime business partner, Nikolai Dvas, Alexander Dvas. «Edinaya Set» was established in 2007 by Gubarev and specializes in hosting services. In 2015, Gubarev’s Cypriot company XBT Holding, owned by Gubarev, became the owner of Edinaya Set through hosting provider Servers.com, which was sold by Gubarev to his closest partner, Nikolai Dvas, in 2023.
At some point, Gubarev withdrew from the shareholders of Edinaia Set, and instead, his mother became the main owner of the firm.
Since December 2024, the firm has been 100% owned by Selectel, which in turn is owned by Vyacheslav Mirilashvili and Lev Leviev.
It should be noted that «Edinaia Set» before the transition to the ownership of «Selectel» was actively working and fulfilling government orders, for which it received a license from the FSB, which implies cooperation with this special service. It is impossible in Russia without it.
Alexei Gubarev has Cypriot citizenship, which, according to Forbes, he obtained by naturalization. However, according to the documents available to our editorial board, Gubarev is also a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania.
It is still unclear when and under what circumstances he obtained a Lithuanian passport.
The businessman did not respond to our editorial office’s inquiry about his Lithuanian citizenship and other questions.
In Limassol, apart from IT specialists, there is a significant presence of Russian businessmen from other spheres. For example, the Russian «Italy Group» of Mikhail Sokolov and Timur Dmitriev has already opened two restaurants and is building a third in partnership with Russian restaurateur Arkady Novikov.
Novikov has close ties to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Sergei Chemezov, head of the military-industrial corporation «Rostech». In addition, Novikov was Putin’s confidant in the presidential election and has openly expressed support for his policies. The Daily Mail published an article in which it accused Arkady Novikov of having ties to billionaires among GRU officers, linking the restaurateur to the poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Skripal with the «novichok» poisoning agent.
Such connections make the «restaurant» business of Mikhail Sokolov and Timur Dmitriev an instrument of espionage and expansion of Russian influence, covered by seemingly innocuous activities.
The influence of Russian businessmen in Cyprus, and especially members of the Techisland association, extends far beyond the IT sector to other key areas of the island’s economy, such as real estate development.
Russian businessmen linked to the Russian state and its intelligence services are using Cyprus to strengthen Moscow’s position in the European Union. Through lobbying, financial injections, and the creation of associations like «TechIsland», they are pushing for changes in local legislation, ensuring a comfortable environment for themselves. This not only undermines the sovereignty of Cyprus but also threatens the collective security of the entire EU, turning the island into a base for further Russian influence.
Ben Wallace rightly emphasizes that Russia acts as a «bandit state», using any means to destabilize Western countries. In this context, Cyprus becomes an example of how the lack of decisive measures to isolate Russian elites and their structures leads to undermining the security of the European Union. The West needs, as Wallace writes, to «build high walls» — to increase control, eliminate opportunities for influence, and take measures that will prevent further penetration of Russian agents of influence into the economies and societies of European countries.