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The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against journalist Aleksandr Atasuntsev for the unlawful acquisition and disclosure of tax secrets (part 3, article 183 of the Criminal Code) because of Verstka’s investigation into sanctions evasion. The news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti reports this, without specifying the source of its information.
According to the publication, the case was initiated no later than May 2025, and on 7 July the Western Investigative Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee requested Atasuntsev’s arrest, but proceedings on this request were subsequently discontinued.
OVD-Info found a court card regarding the Investigative Committee’s request on the website of Moscow’s Dorogomilovsky District Court. The same article is indicated there as the one mentioned by Ostorozhno, Novosti. Publication of the court ruling is prohibited, according to the court card.
According to investigators, Atasuntsev obtained information about the customs clearance of goods and passed it on to an “indeterminate group of persons.”
“Preliminary data suggest it is connected to Verstka’s (designated as a ‘foreign agent’) investigation into how sanctioned goods enter Russia,” writes Ostorozhno, Novosti.
Atasuntsev’s investigation was published in Verstka in July 2023. The outlet clarified that the material was based on closed data from Russian customs statistics.
Prior to 2022, the journalist worked at RBC. After the war in Ukraine began, he left Russia and began collaborating with independent media. In April 2025, a protocol was drawn up against him for participating in the activities of an “undesirable organisation” (article 20.33 of the Administrative Code). The court’s decision states that it was a State Duma deputy who requested a review of Atasuntsev, but their name is concealed. The reason for the protocol was Atasuntsev’s articles on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace website. He was fined, but the amount was also withheld.