Now we are going to tell you a story—one that is very important and very revealing.
Please don’t be disappointed that this won’t be about Putin, or Shoigu, or Alina Kabaeva, or any of our other regular, well-known crook-heroes.
Here is today’s protagonist.
You almost certainly don’t know who he is, but that doesn’t make his story any less interesting. Especially since he has actually sued us—here is the claim.
That should give you some idea of how badly he does not want us talking about him—but we’ll come back to that. In any case, it’s time to meet him. Dear readers, this is Mkrtich Okroyan.
There is virtually no information about him online; he is an extremely private person. His father was the well-known Armenian poet Okro Okroyan. Mkrtich himself is described as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of Moscow’s only Art Deco museum, with its unique antique collection.
And everywhere it is written in this very vague way: Okroyan is involved in manufacturing, there is some group of companies, he is the chief designer there—it is not immediately clear what exactly is going on. But in reality, Okroyan makes aircraft engines.
This is a 3D model of the Kh-555 cruise missile.
In real life, it looks like this: 6 meters long, weighing about 1.5 tons, and flying at roughly 800 km/h.
You remember these images from April this year. This is Uman, Ukraine: a destroyed apartment block. A Kh-555 missile like this struck a residential building—23 people killed, including six children.
Kryvyi Rih, June of the same year. Konashenkov talks about yet another precision strike on Nazis; in reality, it was an ordinary five-story apartment building. Thirteen people were killed by missiles like these.
They are launched from aircraft from several thousand kilometers away. In the nose of the missile is the guidance system, which directs it to the designated target along the required trajectory. Next comes the warhead—the part that explodes and destroys the target. Behind that is the fuel section, and one of the most important components: the engine. It is initially housed inside the body; when launched, it extends outward, starts up, and the missile then flies on for thousands of kilometers, much like an aircraft does.
And these are exactly the engines designed by today’s protagonist. Okroyan is the chief designer of the Soyuz Aviation Motor Scientific and Technical Complex. This information used to be available directly on their website, but references to missile-related work have now been scrubbed.
Soyuz engines are also installed in other missiles, such as the Kh-101, Kh-35, Kh-65, and others. Even though all of this is now classified and denied, a photo of their own display stand helps us here—it states who developed what.
The plant also oversees manufacturing and assembly, and carries out repairs—extending the service life of the engines.
According to its own reports, Soyuz works with the Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV) and other defense enterprises such as Rostec.
Now let’s draw an important distinction. One might get the impression that Okroyan is some kind of state manager, a director working at a state-owned defense enterprise. But no. Okroyan owns the Soyuz design bureau.
We do not know how this happened—by now all the documents have been carefully cleaned up—but here is the data for 2021. The Soyuz Aviation Motor Scientific and Technical Complex, a highly strategic military enterprise that Okroyan himself calls “seriously closed,” somehow ended up owned by… a Cypriot offshore company. The largest stake, 36%, in this “seriously closed” enterprise is registered to Chanowi Services Limited.
But don’t rush to worry that military secrets have leaked to the enemy. It is Okroyan’s own personal offshore company.
Another 13% of Soyuz belongs to Okroyan’s wife, and another 15% to his daughter. The remaining shares also belong, indirectly, to this same family.
The war has been going on for more than a year and a half. For the whole world, and for Ukraine above all, it is a tragedy, a catastrophe. But for some people, war is literally a way to make money. And those people need to be known and named.
Here is a house destroyed by a missile; civilians were killed.
Here are more missiles: the Kh-55 and the Kh-35. They are constantly used to strike Ukraine. Civilians die. Mkrtich Okroyan and his family made money from all of this.
In addition, the Okroyans own the Balashikha Foundry and Mechanical Plant, BLMZ—an old Soviet enterprise specializing in the manufacture of aircraft parts.
They produce wheels for one of Russia’s main combat helicopters, the Ka-52 “Alligator,” and fuselage parts for the Mi-28N “Night Hunter” helicopter.
These helicopters are currently being actively used by the Russian army in the war in Ukraine.
And one question remains: we understand how they made their money, but where did they spend it? Before we tell you—and show you—how, and most importantly where, the family of war criminal Okroyan lives, let us briefly return to our document: the lawsuit. On behalf of the Soyuz plant, Okroyan is suing us: Alexei Navalny (who is in prison), and my colleagues Ruslan Shaveddinov and Oleg Yemelyanov. Okroyan really did not like the tiny video we released about him on Navalny Live in February of this year.
He demands that it be deleted, retracted, and even writes—can you imagine—that his Soyuz does not make engines for missiles and that we have slandered them.
We are not, of course, going to retract or delete anything—quite the opposite. We are going to keep investigating. That February video was about a luxurious estate in England that we found belonging to the Okroyan family. We showed the documents and published a satellite image of it. So, shall we pick up where we left off?
Welcome to Surrey, a very affluent area west of London. It is not far at all from Windsor Castle, where the royal family lives—just a 20-minute drive away.
This picturesque lake is called Virginia Water. People are always out walking here; it is part of a huge park. Films are shot here too—many scenes from Harry Potter, for example.
This is one of the most expensive places in the United Kingdom. It was the first area outside London where the average house price exceeded £1 million. Britain’s elite live here—and so do their remarkable neighbors.
Elton John lived here, quite modestly, while Boris Berezovsky (Russian oligarch) lived here far less modestly. This is where he was found hanged with a scarf. Lavish estates here have also been acquired by Pyotr Aven, German Khan, and Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan’s first president. Even Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet lived and hid here until he was extradited back to Chile.
In short, it is idyllic here. You are surrounded by beautiful nature, birds are singing, the lake is lovely, and nothing—absolutely nothing—here could remind you of war. This place is as unlike a battlefield as it gets. It feels as though war and war crimes are somewhere far away. But that is only an illusion.
Because it is right here, in this lovely and beautiful corner of Surrey, that people directly involved in the war have settled in comfort. The people who bear direct responsibility for it. You probably imagine war criminals as armed men in uniform sitting in some secret bunker.
But no—many of them live in places like this. To this day.
To find the Okroyan family estate, we need to get inside an elite private golf club. Membership here costs 21 million rubles a year, with additional annual fees on top of that. The club has three huge 18-hole golf courses, vast manicured grounds, infrastructure, a spa, a restaurant—and right in the middle of these courses stand actual estates.
You can hardly call them houses. They are full-blown estates: some are old, from the 19th century; others are new builds in a period style. The price tags are impressive. Only club members are allowed onto the grounds, the fences are high, and you cannot see a thing. Well, except for the monograms with the letter O on the gates.
So let’s do it the old-fashioned way and look at the Okroyans’ house from the air.
The house we are looking for is hidden behind trees and bushes.
There it is: Dorchester House. A beautiful three-story building with two wings. In front of it is a small round fountain. Straight ahead is the main house, and to the right an annex containing a gym and a swimming pool.
From the other side, we see the main entrance with a four-column portico. In front of it is a large forecourt with cars parked there; everything looks very much lived in. In the far corner of the property, there is another garden house.
Notice that the houses are screened not only by trees but also by very high netting—presumably so golfers do not accidentally smash a window.
Judging by the prices of neighboring properties, a mansion like this could now be worth £10 million, or 1.2 billion rubles.
We have the floor plan of Okroyan’s property; it is even labeled “Mr. Okroyan.” On the ground floor there is a grand entrance hall, three living rooms, a dining room, and a so-called family room. In the annex there is a swimming pool, saunas, and a staff area with a separate entrance—presumably so they do not get underfoot. There is also a small bedroom and its own kitchen.
On the floor above are six enormous bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The largest is apparently the master bedroom: it has a sitting area, the bedroom itself, a dressing room, and a 25-square-meter bathroom with a jacuzzi area. To the right there is also a seventh bedroom—on a separate upper floor. It comes with a small office as well.
Since 2020, the house has been registered to Anna Okroyan. She was only 26 when she became the owner of this estate.
But even before that, the house was owned by the family; as far back as 2011, at least, the documents were already being drawn up in Okroyan’s name.
In addition, Okroyan’s wife owns a small house in Kent, in the seaside town of Whitstable.
It was purchased as far back as 2006.
The Okroyan family has, in fact, had deep and longstanding ties to the United Kingdom. Both of Mkrtich’s children, his son and daughter, are British citizens.
Over the years, they have no doubt picked up plenty of English traditions and hobbies—playing at the golf club near the house and having tea at five, presumably.
And for holidays they choose something traditional for Britons—Spain. That is where we are heading now, to see whether our missile-maker happens to have anything there as well.
We are in southern Spain, near the resort city of Marbella on the Mediterranean coast. This is the Costa del Sol, which translates as the “Sun Coast.”
More than 300 sunny days a year and temperatures close to 20°C even in winter make this place a real magnet for anyone who loves life by the sea. But even by local standards, the place we are about to visit is exceptionally luxurious.
The bustle of the city is behind us; all around is peace and quiet, everything is beautifully arranged, and over there there is even a very charming coastal park. And the home of today’s protagonist, designer Okroyan, believe it or not, is right here.
The plot quite literally extends into the sea. It is not even first-line waterfront—it is zero-line. We have never seen anything like it.
Take note of this important detail, so dear to our hearts: a giant concrete wall covered in cameras. That is not at all customary here, and the house stands out sharply because of it. Honestly, it feels like being back on Rublyovka (Moscow’s ultra-elite suburb) again—memories come flooding back.
But as before, this wall will not stop us. Let’s take a look at what Putin’s war criminal has acquired on Spain’s sunny coast.
Up we go. We are in an area called Torre Ladrones. Translated into English, that means “Tower of Thieves.” It is not named after the Okroyans, but after a nearby watchtower with that name.
Spread out before us is the Okroyans’ property, covering 5,600 square meters. Behind the enormous concrete wall we can see a manicured lawn, palm trees, a filled swimming pool, a tennis court, and the villa itself. It is two stories tall and covers about 2,300 square meters.
The house has its own gym with a spa complex, eight bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and dressing rooms, an office, and even some mysterious tea rooms.
Behind the house we see white statues arranged in a circle, another pool with an adjoining gazebo, and a 400-square-meter staff house with a garage.
The Okroyans’ house is registered to their family’s Spanish company, Anna Global World SL.
It is difficult to estimate the value of the house. There is nothing comparable nearby for sale in terms of size and location; everything else is far more modest. Still, we can estimate it at no less than €20 million, or 2 billion rubles.
Let us add one more thing, especially given that Russians were recently banned from entering Europe in cars with Russian license plates—and from driving them there as well, under threat of confiscation, as part of sanctions.
But these sanctions will not affect the Okroyans, who are spending money earned from the military industry. The Okroyans have also registered a car to the same company, Anna Global World, which owns the Spanish house—a Tesla Model X worth about 8 million rubles.
But that is not the most interesting part. Two more Tesla Model 3s are registered to the director of this company:
One Tesla Model X:
an Audi S6 and a Ferrari.
Everything is registered to the director, but somehow behind the wheel of the Ferrari is Mkrtich Okroyan’s son—Andranik Okroyan:
We check the plate—it matches:
Convenient, isn’t it? You work for Russia’s defense sector, take direct part in war crimes, and still get to live in Europe as if nothing were wrong. We may be about to make you truly furious, but in fact it gets even worse.
Our first small investigation into Okroyan was published eight months ago. We immediately sent complaints to the UK and demanded that sanctions be imposed without delay. Then we did it again a few months later. Then a third time. And nothing—zero response.
After our investigation and formal complaint, only the United States imposed sanctions. In Europe, meanwhile—where the Okroyans live in a villa and drive around in a Ferrari—nothing. Please, carry on living comfortably!
As for their reaction, take a look at this Instagram post by Okroyan’s daughter, written immediately after she was hit with US sanctions. It is addressed to us.
The upset owner of a castle in Surrey threatens us by saying that… higher powers will punish us; that real karma will catch up with us. And that we should be ashamed. It is her factories that make parts for combat helicopters and engines for missiles (she is also a shareholder); it is she who profits from war, yet somehow we are the ones who should feel ashamed. A rather strange line of reasoning.
In one interview with the magazine Wings of the Motherland, Mkrtich Okroyan says the following:
“Contact with foreign companies had already become dangerous for the country’s defense capability and was therefore simply impossible.”
Wonderful! Your children—on whom defense enterprises are registered—are citizens of NATO countries. The whole family lives in England and Spain. The shares are registered to Cypriot offshore companies. And that is not dangerous?
It is impossible even to understand. They go on about Putin, missiles, war, combat helicopters, Western enemies. So why are you so determined to live exclusively in NATO countries? How can that possibly fit inside one person’s head? How can you profit from a war that Putin says is really not against Ukraine but against the West—and then tie your entire life to that same West?
Go back and live with Putin. Especially since you have somewhere to live. As many of you know, all data on property owners in Russia is now classified, so finding out what the Okroyans own in Russia seems impossible. But here, too, chance helped us.
We found Okroyan’s gigantic, utterly absurd seven-story palace… in a report by Vesti (a Russian state TV news program)! Two and a half hectares of land, a huge pond, and the house itself—which looks more like an office center from the Luzhkov era (the period of former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov)—6,700 square meters, just think about that.
The journalists from *Rossiya-1* kindly flew a drone for us, so we can see all this madness, including this strange structure.
It is some kind of utility building covering 8,600 square meters—so large that one might guess it is practically a missile storage facility.
For a long time, the main house was registered to the son, Andranik, but in March of last year ownership passed to Alla Baban, the designer’s wife.
At the end, we will tell a story that may be of particular interest to Muscovites, but it is in fact important and sad as well. We have mentioned the Soyuz plant many times without showing where it is or what it looks like, yet it was a complex of historic pre-revolutionary buildings right on the embankment in Luzhniki. A true architectural heritage site—the pride of any city.
Soyuz had been located here since 1943, and before that, until 1915, these buildings housed the chemical plant “Friedrich Bayer & Co.” Today you know that company as the major pharmaceutical manufacturer Bayer. So along with the Soyuz plant, the Okroyans also ended up owning all the buildings and all the land on which the aviation motor complex stood. And that asset is worth even more than military state contracts.
Just look at what happened very recently.
All the historic buildings were demolished. The site was flattened to the ground, our architectural heritage buried as if nothing had stood here for a century and a half.
And now, according to the sign hanging on the construction fence, a company at least half-owned by the Okroyans is building… luxury housing here.
Twelve boutique residential buildings designed by British architects; the developers promise “a sense of privacy and water views not only from the first-line waterfront homes, but also from the shaded garden of the private park.” A three-room apartment here, at the excavation stage, can be purchased for just 81 million rubles.
Many people now write to say: what is the point of investigating, what is the point of telling stories like this? Nothing will happen to them anyway.
It will.
Maybe not in Russia right now, under Putin. But abroad—in the places they adore—absolutely. We succeeded in getting the Okroyans placed on the US sanctions list. They will never again be able to open an account, make purchases in dollars, or live comfortably abroad.
We will secure sanctions against them in the United Kingdom and the European Union as well. Sanctions, arrests, criminal cases for war crimes. Sanctions against the specific people and companies profiting from war—not simply against everyone who holds a Russian passport.
We must dismantle Putin’s war machine piece by piece, striking every link in the chain: developers, designers, manufacturers, importers, intermediaries. Participation in Putin’s war must carry a price.
You can help us do this work. Help spread this post and video, show it to people who watch television and believe the fairy tales about Putinist patriotism. If you are abroad, you can make a donation; that money will go toward buying drones, filming, and paying the people who research, shoot, and edit investigations like this. It will support the future work of our foundation.
Freedom for Alexei Navalny!