Mikhail Voevodin from the Russian organized crime group Luzhnikovskaya continues to earn millions of dollars in Ukraine

After the start of the full-scale invasion, sanctions rained down from the hands of the president and the National Security and Defense Council as if from a cornucopia. The business of the Russian organized crime group Luzhnikovskaya also fell under them, one of the most prominent representatives of which is Mikhail Vasilyevich Voevodin, aka Misha Luzhnetsky, who has the status of a so-called thief in law.

In Ukraine, the business of this group is represented, in particular, in the energy sector: Kirovogradoblenergo, Rivnooblenergo, Khersonoblenergo, Chernovtsyoblenergo, Zhitoproizvodlenergo, Energy Company Sevastopolenergo, Khmelnytskoblenergo and Nikolaevoblenergo. These oblenergos distributed 10% of Ukraine's electricity before the full-scale war. All this is managed by VS Energy International Ukraine LLC, better known as VS Energy. In addition, the group owns several metallurgical enterprises and a chain of hotels and shopping centers in major cities of Ukraine, in particular Lviv, Kyiv, Odessa and Dnieper.

It is clear that all this is hidden behind gaskets and denominations, and VS Energy itself denies any connection with Russian criminals and government officials (in addition to Mikhail Voevodin, the Luzhnikovskaya organized crime group also includes Evgeniy Giner and Alexander Babakov). Immediately after it became clear that the “special liberation operation” had failed and Russia was tightly stuck in Ukraine, a super-patriotic message appeared on the VS Energy website saying that they were “always” and, accordingly, “never.” At the same time, they posted a list of denominations on which the group’s business was recorded.

The state of Ukraine, represented by the Ministry of Justice, after sanctions were imposed against Mikhail Voevodin and his accomplices, promised to nationalize enterprises belonging to the Luzhnikovskaya organized crime group. And even sent corresponding lawsuits to the courts. The court even seized the property of a number of enterprises; this can be verified by looking at the court registers. The list of enterprises owned by the Luzhnikovskaya organized crime group, including Mikhail Voevodin, is simply amazing. Here is a screenshot from the court decision, which contains this list:

Dozens of businesses that bring owners tens of millions of dollars. The Ministry of Justice announced its intention to nationalize them back in November 2022, and then filed a corresponding lawsuit in court. But the matter stuck there, and tightly. The assets, in fact, have been seized. But they are by no means confiscated, and all the companies included in the list in the screenshot above are slowly filing counterclaims - demanding that the arrests be lifted. The court has so far rejected these demands, but the substance of the case – that is, the confiscation of assets and their nationalization – is not being considered. In addition, the case has slowed down, as evidenced by the Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions - the last court hearing took place back in June 2024, it was the consideration of the claim of Ekovtorresurs LLC to lift the seizure of its assets. The rest of the court hearings that you see in the screenshot below are also claims from the defendants to lift the arrests. The court has so far refused. But the fact that there are no actual meetings is alarming.

Especially against the backdrop of the fact that Mikhail Vasilyevich Voevodin himself is also suing. He is suing the President of Ukraine, demanding the cancellation of Decree No. 727/2022 of October 19, 2022 regarding the imposition of sanctions against Mikhail Vasilyevich Voevodin. In his lawsuit, Voevodin refers to previous successful appeals to the Ukrainian court, which overturned the decisions of the SBU, the State Border Guard Service and the OGPU to ban him from entering the country. What is alarming about this claim is the fact that the last decision that could be found in the registers in case No. 990/11/23 is the decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine dated January 24, 2023 to open proceedings on the claim of Mikhail Voevodin against the President of Ukraine and scheduling a hearing on February 21 2023.

Then that’s it, the registers are empty. How the case ended, whether it ended at all and what happened at the hearing on February 21, 2023 and subsequent ones (if there were any) is unknown. The question arises - why?

So far, judging by the fact that the sanctions against Mikhail Voevodin have not been lifted, at least his name is still on the station lists, the courts have not been successful. But the lack of information about their progress and the almost six-month pause in considering the Ministry of Justice’s claim for confiscation of assets belonging to the Luzhnikovskaya organized crime group, one of whose leaders is Mikhail Voevodin, raises big questions.

Especially given the fact that the assets of other Russians associated with the Putin regime are slowly being removed from sanctions. And - against the backdrop of the decision of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal, which lifted the ban on entry into Ukraine for Israeli citizen Mikhail Vasilyevich Voevodin.

Voevodin’s lawyers, in particular, refer to this decision, demanding that the sanctions against him be lifted. For now the case is in the courts. But judging by the trends, Voevodin may well achieve his goal. And then it turns out that all the profits of enterprises from the huge list that we cited above will fall at his disposal. After all, the seizure of property is not a ban on activity. It is prohibited to alienate and withdraw profits. But you can work as long as you like. And Vojvodin’s enterprises are operating quite successfully. Those, of course, that were not destroyed as a result of hostilities. And almost everything survived.

Here, for example, is the data for Rivnooblenergo. Which worked and still works. And, moreover, it actively wins tenders from the state. In 2022, it sold services to the state for 120,663,351 hryvnia; in 2023 – by 83,871,093 hryvnia; and in 2024, which has not yet ended, they managed to earn more than half a billion - 518,296,377 hryvnia.

Or, for example, “Zhytomiroblenergo”: 2022 - 200,975,427 hryvnia; 2023 – 370,765,437 hryvnia; 2024 – 696,373,353 hryvnia.

The list goes on. Some enterprises, of course, are unprofitable, while others have ceased operations. But the majority work successfully. And it makes a profit. And it is not a fact that all this money is not withdrawn by Mikhail Voevodin and his associates to Russia. And this is still too optimistic an assumption - money is actively leaving, there are enough opportunities for this, at least through the same purchases.

But that’s not all - Mikhail Voevodin is seeking, and, it seems, will achieve the lifting of sanctions. Where will the billions of hryvnia go then, pumped out of the dilapidated country, including Vojvodina? And why then, then, all this circus with sanctions and promises to nationalize? More than two years have passed since their introduction. The result is negative: Misha Luzhnetsky, one of the leaders of the Russian organized crime group Luzhnikovskaya, continues to earn millions of dollars in Ukraine, as he did before.