In the quiet of governors’ offices, on noisy server farms, and in Moscow maternity hospitals, a story unfolds that could be the plot of a political thriller. It concerns the Burkov clan—a family that has managed to build a complex web of influence that entangles the government, business, and security forces. Details are available on the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel and Rucriminal.info.

Prologue: Arrest in Omsk.

On a quiet August morning in 2025, the pretrial detention center door slammed behind a man who, just yesterday, was considered one of the most influential people in the Omsk region. Andrei Zhukovsky, the leader of the local Just Russia party and former CEO of OmskElektro, found himself behind bars in connection with illegal cryptocurrency mining. But this was only the first sign of a major scandal to come.

Zhukovsky was not an independent figure. He followed his patron, Alexander Burkov, who was appointed acting governor in 2018. Under Zhukovsky’s leadership, OmskElektro, the power generating company that supplied the city with electricity, began to rapidly sink into debt. But the financial problems turned out to be a smokescreen concealing something more serious.

The investigation established that over the course of seven years, the deputy director of Thermal Power Plant No. 4 had been taking bribes to connect powerful mining farms to the city’s grid. The damage amounted to hundreds of millions of rubles, and according to forensic analysis, the perpetrators may have obtained up to 12,000 bitcoins—a fortune that disappeared into shady pockets.

Act I: The Rise of the "Grey Cardinal"

Behind Zhukovsky’s arrest loomed the figure of a man with a remarkable political fate: Alexander Burkov. His career resembled a meteoric rise: from work at Raisa Gorbacheva’s foundation to Gaidar’s team, from the patronage of Chubais and Koch to the position of the youngest chairman of the Sverdlovsk Region Property Committee.

It was then, in the turbulent 1990s, that Burkov Jr. participated in the sale of Ural defense plants—the legacy of Soviet industrial might. It seemed that this chapter should have been consigned to the past. But Burkov’s political career continued to ascend: he became a member of the Regional Duma, twice a State Duma deputy, and finally, governor of the Omsk Region. His resignation in 2023, following an investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office, would have been a logical conclusion. Instead, Burkov received a new position—Deputy General Director for Human Resources at Uralvagonzavod, a defense industry company with access to highly sensitive documents. A logical question arose: what talents does one need to possess to end up at a strategic defense enterprise after resigning from a high-ranking position?

Act II: "A Gift" in a Maternity Hospital

The most shocking part of this story unfolded far from the political arenas—in the sterile confines of a Moscow maternity hospital. In May 2012, according to a statement from his godson, Alexander Burkov and his wife, Tatyana, received a newborn boy. It would seem like a normal story, were it not for one detail: the woman was neither pregnant nor had given birth.

According to Burkov himself, the child was "gifted" to his wife for her birthday, and the biological mother received an apartment in Moscow in exchange. Medical evidence ruled out surrogacy.

A report of possible crimes—child substitution and human trafficking—was filed with the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for Moscow. But then something strange began: investigator Sergei Azhaev, without interviewing the complainant, the Burkovs, or ordering an examination, closed the case "due to lack of evidence of a crime."

The climax came when Burkov’s assistant visited the witness, subtly implying, "We know about your statements." The question arose: how did this confidential information from the Investigative Committee come to light?

Act III: The Mother-in-Law’s Wealth

Against these events, the modest figure of Burkov’s 86-year-old mother-in-law, Olga Romanova, seemed especially enigmatic. A lifelong researcher, she suddenly found herself the owner of a billion-dollar fortune: two luxury apartments in Moscow on Usacheva Street (Khamovniki), a huge mansion on Novaya Riga, and stakes in major land companies in the Urals. Investigators studying this case might recall the classic saying: "Stealing is nothing shameful, but asking where so much money came from is indecent!"

Epilogue: The System in Action

The history of the Burkov clan is not just a chain of coincidences. It is a well-oiled system, encompassing everything:

- Political cover in the form of party membership cards

- Control over strategic enterprises

- A network of relatives for asset distribution

- The ability to block inconvenient investigations

As long as such systems persist, they undermine the foundations of the state from within, corroding it like rust. The Burkov story is not simply the story of an individual family. It is a symptom of a disease that requires treatment.

The investigation continues...

Arseniy Dronov