This article was originally published in the Oct. 6 2011 issue of the Russian newspaper Vedomosti.

In April of 2006 I received a telephone call from an acquaintance of mine, a journalist with the Vedomosti newspaper, who is currently working successfully in an investment business run by one of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s former business partners (one of those who luckily managed to avoid the repressions). She asked me if I knew where Vasily Alexanyan was, and if I could provide her with his London telephone number, – having in mind that, naturally, he had already left Russia long ago. I was not able to give her his London telephone number, because at that very moment I was sitting drinking tea with Vasily in the Veranda at Dacha restaurant outside of Moscow, trying to convince him that he should leave Russia. But my conversation partner was refusing to leave, making the argument to me that in order for Truth to triumph he must remain in his country.

Vasya was asking me whether the General Prosecutor’s Office’s threats were serious – just two days before our conversation, he had become executive vice president of YUKOS, and now had to live in the expectation that he could be arrested at any moment. The natural reaction of any rational human being would be to advise: “Vasya, you’ve got to get out of here!”

But you had to know Vasya!

The first time I saw him was twenty years ago, at Moscow University, when a selection process was taking place for a student trip to Germany to attend a European Community seminar on environmental law – a thought that sounded absolutely ridiculous back then in the USSR. A bit later, Vasily became a participant in an exchange program between MGU and the Columbia University Law School in New York.

These were the very first student exchanges that did not have to include straight-A students from the “party-economic aktiv”; unfortunately, these exchanges subsequently died away and were discontinued for understandable reasons. Those were truly “golden graduating classes”, and nowadays many of us – from back then – are working in senior positions with the biggest Western and Russian law firms or are well-known lawyers, heads of the legal departments of the country’s leading companies, and even a few of the leaders of the Russian Government.

Then Vasya went to Harvard. To pay for his education, he borrowed money from some somewhat less than savoury characters. But even these “characters” believed that Vasya – would repay the debt. He was a man of his word – always – and he stood behind what he said.

Alexanyan returned from Harvard University (there is nothing more impressive than this in the world of jurisprudence, period, no matter what anyone else might tell you) and once again fell into debt, in order to pay off that old student loan of his. He refused to do occasional pick-up work and said that he would agree only to the highest-paying job. His motto was – all or nothing! In the end he was hired by Yukos – a company that soon became the best in the country. Vasya worked a lot and they paid him a lot; he was not ashamed of this, nor was he ashamed that he did not conceal the big taxes that he had to pay. Vasya was an adventurous risk-taker, enjoyed having a drink, and was a player in the broadest sense of the word. And Life played this game with him. Vasily was loved by women like nobody else, and this superiority of his – one of many – evoked the spiteful hatred of ill-wishers. As in everything else, these were the most beautiful women in the world! And the world envied him.

He was a religious person; moreover, he was the same in his faith as he was in love, – passionate. He knew the Holy Scripture by heart. He felt that you must not live by falsehood. You should not lie to others, but most importantly – you should not lie to yourself, you should never make justifications for dirty dealing and low behaviour.

He tried to live every day like it was his last; he was just the sort of person about whom one could say: live beautifully, long, and… die young.

But the main thing was that Vasya was the most talented one of us, the most clever, the most beautiful, the most well-read – he freely spoke and read several European languages – but he was also a positively cracking good mate, always ready to lend a hand whenever times got tough.

When they locked Vasya up, he did not expect that the level of his opponents would be so troglodytic. His persecutors, who were not worth one hair on Vasya’s head, turned out to be people from another planet, right out of the stone age, uneducated low-lifes and liars.

Never did Vasily pressure Khodorkovsky and Lebedev with his gave situation; he did not moan and he did not whine. He bore his trials and tribulations with the greatest courage and dignity.

Vasily is survived by his parents – uncle Zhora and auntie Nadya – remarkably good people, who can be rightfully proud of their son: they raised him very well indeed.

Vasily is also survived by his son Georgy, who is ten years old. And I want Georgy to know that his father died not out of immorality or greed, not out of arrogance or covetousness, not out of an affected religiosity that is used to conveniently justify all manner of dirty deeds and licentious behaviour. No, Vasily Georgievich Alexanyan – is a hero, who did not die, but perished for each of us, so that we would never forget the names of his persecutors, which are now well known to all.

Some people live for glory, some for money, some for peace and comfort, but Vasya was always a person who lived for the happiness and freedom of others. He lived for Truth and he died for Truth! The name of Vasily Georgievich Alexanyan will appear on the pages of contemporary history textbooks.

And another thing. I have often heard from people who do not like YUKOS, but do like the YUKOS affair, that the former employees of the company who have ended up in prison and are complaining about their health are – speculators. Who want to deceive the investigation and get out as quickly as possible, and whose illnesses will dissipate in a flash the moment they are at liberty.

Vasya Alexanyan became the first one to respond to this. With his fate, his life and his death.

Anton Drel, 1992 graduate of MGU,
lawyer