CORRUPTION
An investigation by The Insider has established that the son and daughter of Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian General Staff, own expensive suburban real estate. Information on the title to land plots and houses has been removed from public access. The children of this high-ranking officer could not afford to buy these assets with their own income.
Igor Kostyukov, the head of Russian military intelligence, is under Western sanctions over his interference in the US election, the Skripal poisoning in Salisbury, Britain, and cyberattacks on the Bundestag. But the chief intelligence officer feels more than comfortable in Russia. He was appointed head of the General Staff Main Directorate in late 2018, and the following year his adult children became owners of expensive real estate.
Kostyukov's daughter Alena Solomonova
According to The Insider's data, obtained from a source in the tax service, the GRU head's daughter Alena Solomonova (she changed her last name after marriage) purchased a land plot in the village of Lipka on Novorizhskoe highway in November 2019. However, the extract from the Rosreestr register (the official State Property Register) does not specify the name of the owner, and reads «Russian Federation» instead.
The neighboring plot was also purchased by Alena's brother in November 2019. The name of the GRU head's son can be found in the archived extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate which records the transfer of real estate ownership rights. According to the extract, Oleg Kostyukov's plot was also re-registered in the name of «Russian Federation» in 2020. At the same time, according to The Insider, Kostyukov Jr. remained the owner of a summer cottage located on the plot. Although in this case, his identity is also hidden under «the Russian Federation» moniker.
The neighboring plots are also recorded in the Rosreestr register under «the Russian Federation». According to satellite images, right after the land purchase the Kostyukovs cut down trees and began the construction of a house on the 6,000 square meters of the combined area of the two plots.
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According to current offers on CIAN, the Kostyukov family's country property is worth nearly 170 million rubles. And that's not all: according to The Insider, in addition to the land in Lipka, the siblings also jointly own a 12-hectare plot in the Beliye Rosy 1 gated community. Their real names are also hidden in the Rosreestr register. Combined with Oleg's apartment on 2nd Chernogryazskaya Street, Moscow, his Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 d 4MATIC and Alena's Mercedes-Benz C200, we estimate the cost of property owned by the GRU head's children to be at least 200 million rubles.
Their own income is clearly insufficient for such expensive acquisitions. Oleg Kostyukov, 35, is employed by the Foreign Ministry. His annual income before buying the land in Lipka was only one and a half million rubles. Alena Solomonova, 37, manages the Regions group of companies owned by the United Russia State Duma deputy Zelimkhan Mutsoyev and his brother, British citizen Amirkhan Mori. Her annual income is 2.2 million rubles.
Alena also tried to start her own business but failed. Her husband's firms went bankrupt and were liquidated, and he now works as a hired manager, has unpaid debts, and does not earn much. At least on paper.
Despite her unclear sources of wealth, the daughter of the head of intelligence does not deny herself luxury. She once had a 2-million-ruble diamond ring stolen from her. Judging by the ads on Avito, Alena was selling her Chanel watch, Valentino bag and other expensive items.
The GRU head and his children did not respond to calls or messages from The Insider. The questions sent via Telegram were read by Alena Solomonova and Oleg Kostyukov but were never answered.
Русская версия расследования - здесь