THE OLIGARCHS WERE SANCTIONED. THEIR CHILDREN WERE RAISED IN THE WEST.
How Europe welcomed the money, educated the heirs and discovered the problem only after Ukraine was invaded
There is a question that European governments still do not like answering.
How did the children of Russia’s political and financial elite become so comfortable inside the very Western system that their parents’ regime spent years attacking?
The answer is uncomfortable.
Because for decades, Europe did not simply tolerate Russian oligarchic wealth.
Europe built an ecosystem around it.
London sold the property.
Banks managed the money.
Law firms structured the ownership.
Accountants created the architecture.
Universities educated the children.
Luxury companies sold the lifestyle.
The financial industry collected the fees.
And the political establishment largely treated the entire phenomenon as somebody else’s problem.
Then Russia invaded Ukraine.
Suddenly, the West discovered that some of the money it had welcomed for decades was not politically neutral.
That discovery came remarkably late.
POLINA KOVALEVA: £4.4 MILLION AT 21
Consider Polina Kovaleva, the stepdaughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Her case became one of the symbols of the extraordinary lifestyle surrounding Russia’s ruling elite.
Kovaleva reportedly purchased a London property worth approximately £4.4 million when she was only 21.
Britain subsequently sanctioned her.
The important point is not simply the price of the property.
The important point is what the property represented:
the ability of a young member of Russia’s elite to enter one of the world’s most expensive real-estate markets.
London was not simply a foreign city.
It was part of the financial infrastructure surrounding the Russian elite.
And when the British government sanctioned Kovaleva, the message was clear:
Family relationships could become relevant when examining the financial networks surrounding sanctioned individuals.