The Anti-Corruption Foundation has released an investigative film about the attacks on Leonid Volkov, Ivan Zhdanov, and Maksim Mironov’s wife Aleksandra Petrachkova.

Since this film contains allusions, if not direct accusations against me, I consider it right to respond publicly.

First: I consider the attacks on Volkov, Zhdanov and Petrachkova to be abhorrent crimes. These crimes must be investigated fully and the guilty parties must be punished.

If the Anti-Corruption Foundation wishes to accuse me of something, they should go to court, not backhandedly attack my reputation.

Second: I know nothing about these attacks other than what has been published in the public domain.

Third: Leonid Nevzlin has for many years been my business partner, colleague and friend.

It is well known that, although we remain on friendly terms, we differ in our political views. Leonid’s vision of the future of Russia is significantly different from my own. This is obvious to all based on our public activities. So I cannot and do not want to pre-empt his position.

As far as the allegations against Leonid Nevzlin, which were made based on information published by Russia Today, one can make two assumptions. Either the allegations are true and Leonid Nevzlin has gone mad. Or they are FSB provocations, fakes that someone spent a lot of money on. We have seen such provocations several times in the past, such as in the Magnitsky case.

For some reason, Maria Pevchikh confidently opts for the first option. For entirely understandable reasons, I lean towards the second. But in any case, all materials and information about the attacks on Volkov, Zhdanov and Petrachkova must be handed over to the police. And I am entirely prepared to accept the result of an investigation by the law enforcement authorities and courts of democratic countries, even if that result does not correspond with my version of events.

As far as I understood from the film, both the Anti-Corruption Foundation and Leonid Nevzlin have already gone to the police.