A criminal inquiry into a Russian prostitution network involving minors has revealed claims that billionaire oligarch Oleg Deripaska was a patron, according to a recent investigative report by the exiled news organizations Vyorstka and IStories.
This purported sex trafficking operation reportedly functioned from at least 2018 to 2019, disguising itself as regional teen beauty contests, modeling agencies, and dating platforms, according to journalists who referenced law enforcement documents provided by an anonymous informant.
Russian police have identified a minimum of four underage victims and laid criminal charges against five individuals in 2019. One victim alleged that Deripaska was a client of the operation, as stated in the report published on Thursday.
Between 2022 and 2024, three of the accused received prison sentences of up to six years. Of the remaining two suspects, one is still sought by Russian authorities while the other has managed to evade extradition from Austria.
The only male defendant in the case reportedly joined the Wagner Group to participate in the conflict in Ukraine and was later awarded a bravery medal.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, responsible for examining serious crimes, did not respond to inquiries from Vyorstka and IStories.
An anonymous investigator mentioned to the two organizations that their superiors instructed them to cease the investigation into Deripaska related to the alleged sex ring. “Our higher-ups, following the prosecutors’ orders, told us not to get involved,” the investigator was quoted.
Deripaska’s assistant and his aluminum firm Rusal did not reply to requests for comment.
Another alleged client, businessman Alexander Usov, has sought refuge in Austria, which rejected Moscow’s extradition request. The report characterizes Usov as a business associate of former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov’s family and indicates he has held significant construction contracts in St. Petersburg.
In the wake of the investigative report’s release on Thursday, both Vyorstka and IStories reported that their websites and social media platforms were subjected to coordinated cyberattacks.
Back in 2018, the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny accused Deripaska of having associations with a young Belarusian escort between 2016 and 2017. Deripaska denied these allegations at the time, labeling Navalny’s video investigation as defamatory.
