FSB detains senior Rosatom executive over alleged donations to Ukrainian military

A senior executive from a subsidiary of Russia’s nuclear energy agency Rosatom has been detained on suspicion of having made donations to Ukraine’s military, pro-Kremlin Telegram channel SHOT reported on Friday. 

Mikhail Shcherbakov, who is a director of capital construction at Atomstroyexport and formerly served as the deputy mayor of Sarov, a closed town for nuclear research in the central Nizhny Novgorod region, was detained on Friday, Rosatom later confirmed to state-owned news agency TASS.

“The relevant authorities are conducting an investigation into Atomstroyexport employee Mikhail Shcherbakov and are providing all necessary assistance,” Rosatom said.

Atomstroyexport is Rosatom’s engineering and construction subsidiary responsible for the design and construction of nuclear power plants, primarily for international projects, with 80% of its revenue coming from abroad, according to its website.

Following SHOT’s initial reporting, the Nizhny Novgorod region FSB office confirmed that it had made Shcherbakov’s arrest, noting that he had spoken out against the Russian authorities and had been detained for allegedly “financing extremist organisations”.

A coffee mug with the slogan “No to war!” on it can be seen on Shcherbakov’s desk in footage of his arrest that was later released by the FSB. 

Shcherbakov, who has worked for Atomstroyexport since 2007, was previously involved with the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus and on a project developing new nuclear reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, according to  independent Russian news outlet Agentstvo.