The international swindler Ilan Șor has become an indispensable man for the Kremlin. His activities are funded by representatives of the Russian secret services, as well as by billionaires Arkadi Rotenberg and Roman Abramovich.
In an attempt to influence the outcome of the parliamentary elections in Armenia, Russia has launched an unprecedented campaign against the incumbent Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan. One of the episodes of this campaign was the offer of blogger Mika Badalian to all Armenians living in Russia to pay their way to Armenia to participate in the vote.
This is not the first time that Badalian has been involved in such electoral operations. Two years earlier, he took part in the Russian campaign against the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu.
Badalian works for the non-profit organization “Eurasia”, created by the fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Șor, who in recent years has become one of the Kremlin’s most important operatives in sensitive matters. An international criminal, cryptocurrency magnate, manager of a maritime fleet, and promoter of Eurasianism, Șor has built a real financial network. The publication “Novaia Gazeta Europa” claims to have identified evidence that some of the funds for his projects also come from structures associated with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
“Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Ilan Șor, general manager of the company A7,” introduced himself the modest 38-year-old man, dressed in a loose blue suit. “Together with PSB bank and with the support of VEB.RF we have essentially created an international settlement center – a platform that operates on the basis of exchange mechanisms and uses high-tech financial instruments.”
Vladimir Putin was listening through a video conference from the Far East branch of the National Center “Rossia”, where he was participating in the Eastern Economic Forum in September 2025.
In the Republic of Moldova, Ilan Șor was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the “billion-dollar theft” and is internationally wanted. He is under the sanctions of the European Union, Great Britain, and the United States.
Until not long ago, he was not welcome in Russia either. Since 2016, he had been banned from entering the territory of the Russian Federation for reasons of national security. According to some sources cited at that time by Kommersant, the ban was justified by the fact that Șor “corrupts everyone he sees”.
After the outbreak of the large-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine, this “quality” however became useful to the Russian authorities. From 2023, Șor returned to Moscow, and in 2024 announced that he had obtained Russian citizenship. Subsequently, he publicly presented his achievements, including to Putin.
In recent years, Ilan Șor has built a true empire in Russia. He contributed to the creation of alternative financial transfer mechanisms that help Moscow bypass Western sanctions. He also manages a part of the shadow fleet used for the export of Russian oil, finances media institutions and influencers who promote the Kremlin’s interests abroad, and is accused of trying to influence voters in the Republic of Moldova to change the country’s European course.
According to several media sources, the one who would have introduced Șor to Putin was Roman Abramovich. “Novaia Gazeta Europa” claims to have found evidence showing that some of Șor’s projects are funded through structures associated with the Russian billionaire.
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