Hi. There are a few things I keep hearing from our supporters all the time. It sounds more like a reproach, really. Millions of people in Russia’s regions watch us and are indignant: why, why is it always Moscow and St. Petersburg with you people?
People often write to me saying, “Our local corruption is far bigger and worse than yours.” I’m inclined to agree. At the very least, regional corruption is more terrifying and more destructive. Local officials aren’t stealing from some “abstract” federal budget — they are literally stealing out of the pockets of the people living in these cities and republics. They’re not stealing through flashy “innovation” projects and Skolkovo (a state-backed innovation hub near Moscow), but through gas, electricity, and water tariffs. They’re stealing directly from the wages of public-sector workers, who already earn next to nothing.
And do you know where the most messages come from? The North Caucasus.
And of course, of course, we should have turned our attention to this poorest of regions long ago — a region that, for no good reason, has somehow been treated as untouchable. They have their own customs there, everything is complicated there, the culture and mentality are different — you’ve heard all of this many times, and maybe you’ve even thought it yourself.
And then recently, just at the end of last week, we started getting flooded with messages linking to the same YouTube video. It was an unusual video, and at first I even thought it might be some kind of prank or flash mob. It was called “DIY Suspended Plasterboard Ceiling.”
The video really is about home renovation — no trick. It’s about how to properly install complex plasterboard structures. On camera there are only workers, craftsmen, and site foremen. They’re installing a suspended ceiling.
We watched it carefully and quickly put together an investigation. About one of Russia’s poorest regions. About how an entire republic has been looted by literally two or three clans, a couple dozen relatives and friends — the overwhelming majority of them government officials. They have stolen absolutely everything, and they did it a long time ago. And now they are enjoying the spoils and living lives that would be shocking even by Moscow standards.
And hello again to everyone who prefers reading to watching. Make yourselves comfortable, get your notebooks out — we’re about to hack our way through the kinship-and-clan structure of modern Russia. Russia, specifically — please keep that in mind, because it may sound as if I’m describing some Middle Eastern monarchy or even a medieval khanate. It will be complicated, but interesting.
The video I mentioned in the introduction is here. It is devoted to installing a suspended ceiling, stucco molding, and other plaster ornamentation.
It was made by a construction specialist from Rostov, Ruvim Boyko. He has a very popular channel with 130,000 subscribers and millions of views. The content and the concept are genuinely great — DIY in an entertaining format.
But why did dozens of people suddenly start writing to us and urging us to watch this video?
The comments under the video were even more surprising. They were full of my surname. Things like: Navalny is about to show up here.
Well, I showed up. I watched the video. And honestly, I was blown away. The house where they’re teaching us how to install suspended ceilings looks like this:
The drone footage is superb — see for yourselves. At one point I started suspecting that maybe we had filmed this ourselves at some point, uploaded it, and forgotten about it. This property looks like every single estate we’ve ever filmed on the so-called Rublyovka (the elite luxury area outside Moscow) all at once. The architecture, the scale, the landscaping, the fences — everything.
But we kept looking — and didn’t recognize it. We couldn’t figure out where it was, even though we know all those Rublyovkas, Istras, Pestovos, and other riverside elite districts inside out.
And if you listen to the video, Ruvim gets rather coy about where he’s filming. He says it’s far from Moscow, far from St. Petersburg, and that he flew there from Rostov-on-Don. Naturally, that only made us more curious. Where could someone have built something like this?
Without waiting for the video to end, we started trying to figure out where it was. Especially since it contained so many “clues.”
First, the footage. It’s recent — the video came out a week ago — and there’s no snow in the shots, the sun is shining, so it must be the south. Second, one of the workers says he lives in Pyatigorsk. So it must be nearby; no one is going to haul painters halfway across the country. Third, the foreman Lyokha’s Instagram appears on screen.
And there are dozens of photos of this house, stories about the construction, and everywhere the hashtag is #Cherkessk.
Next, we simply opened a map of Cherkessk — the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia — and this gigantic monstrosity immediately jumped out. Here, see for yourselves.
So, by the fifth minute of the video, we had established the property’s exact location and felt terribly proud of our cleverness and our little investigation. But at the very end of the video we felt a bit foolish, because none of that had actually been necessary. At the 31-minute mark, Ruvim simply came out and said it directly: “We’re in Cherkessk.” Which, I think, embarrassed foreman Lyokha a little.
In any case, we now know with 100% certainty where this house is, even if the people in the video deny everything and claim they filmed it on the Moon.
Naturally, the next thing we wanted to know was how much something like this could cost. If it were on Rublyovka, a 2,000-square-meter house and 8.5 hectares (85,000 sq. m) of land would come to about 6 billion rubles. But this isn’t Rublyovka, it’s Cherkessk, so let’s subtract the land value altogether — basically, call it free. But the house still has to be built. And we’re talking not only about 2,000 square meters plus outbuildings and landscaping, but also an interior that is very far from simple wood paneling.
The video gives away some details — for example, that the ceilings are 12 meters high. That’s so they can hang a chandelier that is 7 meters tall. Or that in just one room, the stucco molding they are teaching viewers to install weighs nearly 2 metric tons.
We made some rough calculations, looked at those coffered ceilings, and estimated the property at 1 billion rubles. Which raises the question: in one of Russia’s poorest regions, where the average salary is 24,600 rubles and the GOVERNOR officially earns 74,000 rubles a month, who can afford to spend a billion on a house?
So we dug in to find out the name of this rich man. We looked at the property record and couldn’t understand what was going on. In reality, it’s a 2,000-square-meter house, but on paper it is listed as a “recreation/wellness facility” with an area of 310 square meters. So this is not just a rich person, but someone who knows how to make the state do exactly what he wants.
And here is the owner:
If you don’t live in Karachay-Cherkessia, this surname probably means nothing to you. It meant nothing to me either until last week. But if you are reading this from Karachay-Cherkessia, you may be feeling very nervous right now. Because we are talking about people who are very well known, very influential, and even dangerous. People who can afford absolutely anything.
The owner of the lavish house is Ansar Aliyevich Kaitov. Ansar is very young — he isn’t even 18 yet — but he is already famous. Here he is at his high school graduation riding in a Mercedes with flashing lights and firing a Kalashnikov rifle.
A wonderful start, no doubt. A successful young man speeds around with flashing lights and fires an assault rifle, taking breaks only to oversee construction of a house with two tons of stucco in every room. “And what have *you* achieved?”
But we all understand that even if Ansar Kaitov graduated with straight A’s, he still could hardly have bought himself a house like this. Naturally, it came from his father. His father’s name is Aliy Zaurovich Kaitov.
And this is exactly the point where this post stops being entertaining. Using this one estate, registered to a 17-year-old student, we are now going to pry open the door to how the world of the North Caucasus — and Karachay-Cherkessia in particular — is structured today.
Karachay-Cherkessia is a poor republic. Humiliatingly poor, and now you will see why. Everything there — absolutely everything — has been divided up among a few families, who have joined into intricately intertwined clans and split among themselves every last ruble that comes into the region from the budget. Every kopek — whether it is gas, electricity, or urban improvement funds. Parliament, government, courts, major businesses, and resorts — absolutely everything is controlled by a small group of blood relatives who have been robbing the people living on this land for decades.
You already know one of these families very well — they are in the news every day. It is the Arashukovs, led by Rauf Arashukov, senator from Karachay-Cherkessia and, incidentally, a murderer, a corrupt official, and the leader of a group that, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee, stole 36 billion rubles from Gazprom.
But the Arashukovs are not an exception. The man whose name you see in the property record above — Aliy Kaitov — is a representative of another, no less influential clan. These two clans, along with a couple of subsidiary ones, have divided the republic between themselves.
The owner of the house — let me say his name again — is Aliy Zaurovich Kaitov.
He is the son-in-law of the former president of Karachay-Cherkessia, Mustafa Batdyev. In other words, he is married to the former president’s daughter. Their child, Ansar — the one in whose name the house is registered — is therefore the president’s grandson.
The land around the palace is registered to another grandson, 19-year-old Aslan Kaitov.
Aliy Kaitov was and remains a very influential man in the republic. He was a legislator, owned a factory, and by now he might probably have been aiming for the governorship, with relatives like these. But one thing gets in the way: in 2004, when he was 27, during a child’s birthday celebration at his country house, he killed seven people, including another legislator. Apparently they had some business dispute.
This mass murder made headlines across all media outlets in 2004. Obviously why: the president’s son-in-law, and something like this. Not only did it happen at his home and, as the investigation found, on his orders, but the victims’ bodies could not be found for a long time. Aliy and his accomplices took the corpses into the mountains, piled tires around them, and burned them in a mine shaft. Even for the North Caucasus, this was an extraordinary crime.
The relatives of those killed organized mass protests and stormed the administration building. The republic was plunged into a real political crisis. They left the government building only after Dmitry Kozak, who had flown in from Moscow, assured them that there would be a trial.
There was a trial. So let me ask you: what sentence should a man who organized such a massacre receive? When should he be released? You shrug and say: well, obviously, life imprisonment. He should never be released.
Are you sure? Aliy Kaitov was sentenced to 17 years.
Locals began publishing reports about the murderer’s prison conditions: a special two-room cell was made for him, visitors were freely brought to him, and he himself could apparently leave and return to prison whenever he wished.
And then, for Kaitov, an era of humanitarian mercy truly begins. His sentence is gradually reduced. First special circumstances, then minor children.
In the end, less than 10 years later, Kaitov was already free.
Here is a 2014 photo of him with the very familiar Rauf Arashukov. Rauf captions it: “My Brother.”
So for the murder of seven people, Kaitov served less than 10 years instead of 17. Let me quote the well-known human rights advocate Babushkin, speaking about Kaitov: “I have never seen such a generous reduction of a prison term... In our country, this is the first case of its kind!”
While Kaitov was in prison, his father-in-law, President Mustafa Batdyev, resigned. Not because of the mass murder, of course — what a trifle — but many years later, when his term expired. You would think that Kaitov, after serving time, would come out to nothing. No job prospects, father-in-law no longer president, officially divorced from his wife. But this is where we can perfectly illustrate how family clans work.
We quickly put together a chart here. These family ties are just one family.
I’ll show it in parts from here on. That should help keep us from getting lost among the endless brothers and sisters.
In the top row is Kaitov’s father, Zaur Kaitov. He too was an official, heading the Forestry Agency of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. To the left is his paternal uncle — a far more serious figure. Magomed Kaitov. He was called the “energy king” of the North Caucasus.
Recognize the phrasing? Arashukov too was called the “gas king.” You might get the impression that this uncle built some successful energy business that made him an oligarch. That is, of course, not the case. In 2002, he was appointed head of the “Caucasus Energy Management Company” by our effective manager and liberal reformer Chubais. And Chubais also awarded him a medal “for services to the Russian electric power industry.”
As a result of this powerful appointment, Magomed Kaitov looted the republic’s electric power sector down to the ground. He stole through tariffs — that is, literally out of the pocket of EVERY resident of Karachay-Cherkessia. I could explain how he did it, but let Putin do it instead... He certainly wouldn’t lie.
Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich. Exhaustive as always.
Magomed Kaitov was arrested and charged with stealing 4 billion rubles. That was in 2013. Then a miracle occurs — the same kind of miracle as with the prison term for mass murder — and we see Magomed Kaitov on his children’s Instagram. Naturally, free. So if he served any time at all, it was purely symbolic.
If you think that a stern reprimand, an arrest, and being personally exposed by Putin had any effect on the Kaitov clan’s lifestyle or wealth, you are very much mistaken.
The eldest daughter of the energy boss who stole 4 billion is Jamila Kaitova.
Founder of her own “intellectual women’s salon” (why women-only?!).
She drives around in a Bentley with red upholstery.
She hangs out with the singer Valeriya at the Rotenbergs’ country house. She goes yachting with them too.
In the photo below on the left, she is with her brother — recently released after serving time for mass murder — in Paris. On the right, she is with him again, this time in the south of France.
She has to travel a lot, so she flies by private jet. She loves Putin.
Her sister Karina lives in New York and works as a DJ and singer; she is an official ambassador for Chanel in Russia. Tatler and all that.
And here is the honored energy man Kaitov’s wife, Madina. Also on a private jet. The elite, whichever way you look at it.
Here they all are on our chart.
Now let’s move to another part of it. Over here.
Here we have the family of Kaitov the murderer’s own brother. The brother, Akhmat Zaurovich Kaitov, is — NATURALLY — a government official. He heads Karachay-Cherkessavtodor, meaning all road construction in the republic. And he is also a legislator on the side.
None of this prevents him from giving his wife Madina a Bentley with a bow on it.
And just take in their home interior — so refined.
Vacationing on a yacht in Ibiza. The Emirates. Monte Carlo. Their child is well equipped for school too — primer in a Gucci bag, fashionable loafers. Ready for class.
I’m almost afraid to look directly at her watch — it’s blinding.
For all the gold interiors, Dubais, Bentleys, and diamonds, we should thank daddy — a 33-year-old official from the regional road administration, for God’s sake. From some shady little outfit, some miserable minor state enterprise.
You’re either going to laugh or cry now, I don’t know which. Do you know who is standing in the gilded interior of the home of the head of Karachay-Cherkessavtodor?
It is his wife Madina’s father — Albert Aliyevich Karabashev. At that time he was the chief of the Karachay-Cherkessia POLICE, deputy interior minister of the republic.
On Facebook you can also find photos of his younger son, Islam. He is a prosecutor!
If you already feel like banging your head against the table, hold on. This is Russia, this is happening right now, these are the people who have captured an entire region. And it needs to be talked about.
Let’s return to the “main” Kaitovs — the ones with the house and the renovation video that started all this. I’m building up to what Aliy Kaitov’s life looks like after serving time for mass murder.
Everything is fine, ladies and gentlemen, everything is in order. Here is a Bentley Mulsanne that he bought shortly after, pardon the expression, getting out of prison. Registered in Moscow. Cost: more than 20 million rubles.
His eldest son Aslan, all of 19 years old, drives around in it. What were you driving at 20?
He gave the Bentley to his son. So now he no longer has a Bentley. What does that mean he has to do? Buy another one. Here you go: a Bentley Bentayga SUV. Bought by the ex-convict in 2017, cost 15 million rubles.
There are many more cars too, a great many. This Mercedes, that Mercedes, a whole set of BMWs — all of them cars belonging to Kaitov’s children, teenagers, in Cherkessk.
Can you guess in one try what Aliy Kaitov does? Immediately after his release, he took over a company called “COMPREHENSIVE UTILITIES SYSTEMS HOLDING,” formerly known as “CHERKESSK CITY ELECTRIC GRIDS.”
I don’t even know whether I need to mention that the founders of this company also include the wife and daughter of the mayor of Cherkessk.
And here is the mayor himself — Ruslan Tambiev. Honestly, we were just looking for a photo for the post, and instead found a Breguet watch worth 1.5 million rubles on the mayor’s wrist. That is five years’ salary for the average resident of Cherkessk.
Putin has already told you how they manage the power grid — they simply steal from every payment.
Only one important point remains. I can feel the question hanging in the air: where is the current head of the republic, Rashid Temrezov, looking?!!! All this corruption is unfolding right under his nose. First the Arashukovs, now the Kaitovs too.
Well, here is where he is looking: straight into the camera lens.
While holding close Kaitov’s eldest son, Aslan — the one in the Bentley Mulsanne in Moscow, if you’ve forgotten. Aslan calls the head of Karachay-Cherkessia his “dear uncle.”
That “dear uncle” is our murderer’s former subordinate. Before becoming head of Karachay-Cherkessia, Temrezov worked as general director in Kaitov’s energy grid company.
While the investigation was underway, the media called Temrezov Kaitov’s “right-hand man.” The bravest outlets even wrote that he had been at that very country house on the night of the murders.
Take a look at this wonderful president of the republic.
He should not blur into the faceless mass of other governors in your mind, because he is, at least formally, responsible for what is happening in the republic.
Listen to him talk about how much he loves Putin.
We also owe him Mr. Arashukov in the Federation Council — the one who does not speak Russian. And, by the way, I assure you, the republic’s second senator still there is exactly the same sort of figure: Akhmat Salpagarov. He just steals money through capital construction projects.
The “dear uncle” president officially earns 74,000 rubles a month. And yet he wears a watch worth almost 4 million rubles.
And that’s not the only one. Here is another Patek Philippe worth 4 million.
And gold tourbillons worth 2 million.
You can see them sticking out here — that’s another 5 to 6 million.
Or here is another splendid one — 2.5 million.
These are not merely shameless crooks but criminals — murderers, gangsters. They completely seize entire regions and can do whatever they want there. Of course, in close coordination with Moscow. Do you think the Kremlin doesn’t know, or isn’t involved? Just think about it. All of Karachay-Cherkessia has a population of only 465,000. Less than the population of Tula.
And yet even out of such a small federal subject, these clans manage to squeeze tens of billions. They have literally robbed everyone there. The very purpose of the state there now is to enrich specific families.
And this suits the Kremlin just fine. It ships subsidies there and gets kickbacks in return. And it covers all this with its usual line: “Well, what do you expect? It’s the North Caucasus, it’s always like that there. That’s how it has to be.”
I do not believe that. And I do not think there are many people in the Caucasus who consider what is happening normal. In any case, I am very glad that someone sent me that plasterboard video, because now many more people will learn what is going on in the republic.
And that is your answer to the question: what should we do about the North Caucasus? Stop encouraging these clans that rob everyone, and stop letting murderers out of prison. Then people there will live much more prosperously, and everything will become much calmer.
I also very much want to say a huge thank you to the small but real group of independent Karachay-Cherkess media outlets and bloggers who, despite everything, have continued all this time to write about these clans, about all these vile Arashukovs, Kaitovs, and Temrezovs. Thanks to their articles, posts, and videos, in a relatively short time we were able at least partially to understand and reconstruct the real picture of what is happening in the republic. You are wonderful and brave people, and you are doing something very important.