Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, 31 May 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE/ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL
Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner and “family values” advocate Maria Lvova-Belova, who is currently wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), has, according to Russian investigative media outlet Verstka, left her husband for “Orthodox oligarch” Konstantin Malofeyev.
Posts on Lvova-Belova’s Telegram channel show that she began working closely with Malofeyev, a fierce proponent of “traditional values” who runs the ultranationalist pro-Kremlin Tsargrad television channel, in early 2023, Verstka said.
The two reportedly then grew increasingly close over the next 18 months as they collaborated on projects aimed at helping orphans in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, before being pictured holding hands at an event to mark the 105th anniversary of the murder of the Romanovs in July.
While Malofeyev divorced his previous wife, lawyer Irina Vilter, in summer 2023, Lvova-Belova has not yet announced a divorce from her husband, Orthodox priest Pavel Kogelman, with whom she is raising at least 10 children, many of whom she reportedly adopted, including one teenager from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Malofeyev’s relationship with Lvova-Belova was reportedly to blame for a rift developing between the oligarch and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, and led to Malofeyev’s resignation as Kirill’s deputy from the World Russian People’s Council, which has described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war”, in March after holding the position for five years.
After making billions as an investment banker, Malofeyev used his wealth to fund multiple ultraconservative and pro-Kremlin initiatives, including the Safe Internet League, a powerful pro-censorship NGO he founded and sponsored, as well as his Tsargrad TV channel, which is notorious for spreading conspiracy theories.
Malofeyev has been sanctioned by the West since 2014 for financing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Lvova-Belova was sanctioned by the UK, US and EU in 2022 for her outspoken support of Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for both Lvova-Belova and Vladimir Putin over their alleged roles in the “unlawful deportation” of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia from occupied areas of Ukraine, where, according to Lvova-Belova, orphans were being “taught to love Russia” in their new families.
