The invader’s European nest: the family of a Russian aircraft and drone developer owns property in France and the UK

Villas, luxury clothes, business in Europe… The Russian businessmen who financed the invasion of Ukraine do not want their children and grandchildren to live in their homeland, so they easily send them to “decaying Europe”.

However, for some reason, it’s war in Ukraine that helps them still earn money for an elite life in the EU countries. Oleg Demchenko, the developer of aircraft and UAVs that have been targeting Ukrainian cities for more than 2 years, owns real estate in Europe, registering it in the names of his grandchildren. At the same time, Europe is strangely ignoring the activities of the manager of a Russian military-industrial enterprise, as neither Demchenko nor his family have been included in the EU or UK sanctions lists.

Oleg Demchenko is the General Designer of the Russian Yakovlev Research and Development Bureau. During its existence, the company has produced more than two hundred types and modifications of aircraft, including more than one hundred production aircraft. Demchenko has served as the general designer, director and board member of the company at various times. In 2017-2018, he became a member of the Aviation Board under the Russian government. Yakovlev’s bureau is part of the Irkut corporation, which, based on the bureau’s designs, is engaged in the serial production of Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft and Su-30 fighters, which were used by Russia to launch X-31P and X-58 anti-radar missiles during the great war. During the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian military shot down many aircraft of this type. The bureau also developed the Voron and Klest drones. There were also plans to launch the Yak-133BR reconnaissance and strike UAV. Until 2021, Demchenko was also the general designer at Irkut. Now he is working and living with his wife in Russia, still not under sanctions (except for ones imposed by Ukraine), and his son and grandchildren are buying property and running businesses in Europe. 

In March 2022, journalists of Schemes (a project of Radio Liberty) conducted an investigation into Putin’s associates who own property abroad. Skhemy found that Oleg Demchenko had purchased property in a prestigious location – the municipality of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat near Nice. This is the French Riviera, which is favoured by the rich from all over the world, including Russians. 

The journalists of the Trap Aggressor project decided to find out what was happening with this property of Demchenko’s.

Oleg Demchenko’s French villa

Photo from the Internet

On the coast of the Ligurian Sea in the south of France near Nice, 1 m² of private housing can be purchased for an average of 20 thousand euros. Buying property here is a kind of marker of success for the Russian beau monde. Russian oligarchs Arkady Rotenberg, David Kaplan and Vladimir Yevtushenkov, as well as Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash and the head of the executive committee of the pro-Russian Ukrainian party For Life, Serhiy Lovochkin, have villas here.

Next to this “elite” at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, 12 avenue des Fleurs, Oleg Demchenko also bought a mansion with a swimming pool. Initially, his French property was registered with the Paris-based SCI Olara company (a legal entity commonly used in France for real estate investments and commercial ventures), where the owners were listed as Oleg Demchenko himself, his wife Larisa Vaytsekhovskaya and their two grandchildren Anastasia and Oleg. 

Screenshot from Google Maps

The previous owner of SCI Olara, Alexander Ulysses René Darcy Lett, also owns several companies of a similar type registered at the same address. There is no office in this place, so these are probably fictitious companies created specifically to register various real estate. 

On August 9, 2023, Oleg Demchenko and his wife Larisa transferred their shares in the company and, accordingly, the villa to their grandchildren, Anastasia and Oleg.

Russian engineer’s British apartment

Anastasia’s apartment in central London

Anastasia Demchenko, the granddaughter of a Russian engineer, works as a PR specialist for the London team of the Italian jewelry and watch company Buccellati. She has also interned at the upscale Harrods shopping center, worked with the British fashion magazine Tutler, attended British courses at Christie’s, and shared stories of her sophisticated life in London on her social media pages.

Together with her husband Matvei Vladimirovich Livshite, the woman lives in London at 64 Queens Gate, SW75 JP. According to extracts from the British property register, the apartment number 2 at this address belongs to Anastasia. She purchased it in 2021 for 1.5 million pounds (about $2 million).

Anastasia Demchenko and Lilia Scheffler-Sennova. Photo from the Internet

In this photo, Anastasia is having an afternoon tea with another Russian woman, Lilia Sheffler-Sennova. She is the wife of the former president of the Russian construction company Finstroy, Ilya Surkov. They have also been living in London since at least 2019. According to Swiss journalists, businessman Surkov embezzled funds in Russia, then hid from the Russian court in Switzerland, but due to the inability to integrate into Swiss society, the family of Russian criminals moved to the UK.

Demchenko’s grandson Oleg, named after his grandfather, also lives in London at 9-11 Manson Place, SW75 JP. It is 4 minutes by car from Anastasia’s apartment. 

Screenshot from Google Maps

This address is listed in French documents as the grandson’s place of residence. 

Officially, he does not own the property, but the Trap Aggressor team found out what kind of apartment it is and who its owner is according to the documents. First, Oleg Demchenko Jr. left a comment on the website of the London-based property renovation company Lev Pride about his pleasant experience with them. The company says on its website that it has renovated apartments in both Manson Place and Queens Gate. From the description of the renovation at Manson Place, it is clear that this is a two-bedroom apartment on the 4th floor (the only one at the specified location). 

According to the British registers, the official owner of the apartment on the 4th floor in August 2022 was 24-year-old Spencer Coates Gonzalez, who previously worked for a property management company in London owned by his relative Jason Terry Coates. So he is probably only a nominal owner of the London apartments.

Oleg Demchenko is a shareholder in 9-11 MANSON PLACE LIMITED, a real estate management company. Together with him, Olga Jansen van Vuuren is listed there.

Olga also lives in the same house as Oleg Demchenko Jr. She is the daughter of Vladimir Peftiev, one of the richest people in Belarus and the former head of Beltechexport. Peftiev was called Lukashenko’s wallet in the media, and the EU included him in its sanctions list, although he was later removed from it. “Beltexport is a company that designs anti-aircraft missile systems, repairs aircraft, exports and imports military equipment and services. Beltexport’s product catalog includes MiG airplanes, Mi helicopters, drones, anti-aircraft systems, electronic warfare equipment, tanks, armored vehicles, etc. In 2012, the company was sold to Russian businessman Dmitry Gurinovich. Even during the full-scale invasion, the company actively participated in military exhibitions together with Russian companies and in Russia itself. 

The German brand
Anastasia Demchenko also owned the clothing brand Studio Celestra until recently. The company has been in liquidation since November 2023. Although the brand was registered in the UK, photos with clothes presented in the Berlin boutique Tcha Concept were regularly posted on Instagram. Anastasia and her husband Matvey also appeared at events in this store. 

The boutique itself is owned by Joey Burdi, the daughter of Thomas Kramer, a well-known German-American real estate developer, venture capitalist and investor. He manages real estate in South Beach, Miami, Florida, is friends with Trump, and has a multi-million dollar business worldwide in real estate and venture capital investments. 

The business in Czech Republic

Oleg Demchenko’s son Viktor also has a business in Europe. Since 1999, he has been the owner of the Czech company Olvy International s.r.o. and listed his personal address in Karlovy Vary as Karlovy Vary, Sadová 5/35. This address is the location of the luxury hotel Kriváň.

Viktor’s company does not have a website, and there is little information about it in open sources. Many other companies are registered at the address of Demchenko-son’s company, many of which are also run or owned by Russians. According to the registers, Olvy International s.r.o. is engaged in retail, but in February 2023, the right to buy and resell goods was removed from it.

On August 8, the day before the property census, the UK imposed a series of sanctions on 22 individuals and legal entities outside Russia that support Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Perhaps this was the impetus to keep the property in Europe, transferring ownership to grandchildren.

The dynasty of Russian UAV and aircraft designer Oleg Demchenko has been enjoying a luxurious life in Europe for years, buying real estate and running its own business. Moreover, he has been establishing communications and business ties with Europeans. Meanwhile, Russian-made airplanes and drones are systematically destroying Ukrainian cities and villages.  Nevertheless, Russians support each other abroad, their children drive the Russian war machine and help kill Ukrainians every day, living their best lives in villas, fashion boutiques, and European events. To do this, they do not even need to circumvent sanctions, because European restrictions have simply not been applied to them.

trap.org.ua

Sophia Martinez