Was Political Scientist Anatoly Kotov Abducted By FSB Agents?

The yacht, with him on board, changed course toward Abkhazia.

In August 2025, Anatoly Kotov of the the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation flew from Warsaw to a meeting on which, as he told his friends, a great deal depended. A day later, he was on a yacht in the Black Sea, and a few hours after that, he vanished without a trace. The Belarusian Investigative Center has uncovered new details about the security services’ operation.

Anatoly Kotov is a representative of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). He worked at the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lukashenko’s administration, the embassy in Poland, the National Olympic Committee, the organizing committee for the 2019 European Games, and Lukashenko’s Administrative Office.

In August 2020, he resigned in protest from his position as deputy head of the Department of Government Finance within the Main Financial Directorate of Lukashenko’s Administrative Office. In recent years, he has been in forced exile, engaging in civic activism and working on several political and media projects.

Anatoly Kotov disappeared in August 2025. It is known that he took leave from his job at the event agency Terra Group and traveled to Istanbul on August 21. According to the Turkish prosecutor’s office, Kotov’s passport was scanned at 6:35:54 p.m. as he left Turkey on August 21 via the port of Trabzon.

For nearly a year, journalists from the BRC, Deutsche Welle, and OCCRP, in collaboration with the “Rabochy Rukh” and “Cyberpartisans” initiatives, have been trying to determine what happened to the former official after his trip to Turkey. As a result, they concluded that his disappearance was the result of a premeditated operation involving several people, and that Kotov himself was likely handed over to Russian FSB agents.

A few weeks before his disappearance, Kotov began telling acquaintances about an important meeting in Turkey. According to friends and family, he seemed interested and even inspired by the prospect. He told some that events might soon unfold that would give many Belarusians the opportunity to return home. The meeting was rescheduled several times. The last time he informed his wife of another date change was on August 11, 2025—ten days before his departure.

The investigation shows that preparations for this trip began well in advance. To organize it, the organizers rented the yacht Shells—a 30-meter motor vessel with four cabins. The crew was selected in a very unusual way. The captain and sailors were Turkish, the stewardess was a Dutch citizen, and the main condition for hiring them was that they did not speak Russian. This seemed strange, since all the yacht’s passengers were Russian-speaking.

An HR specialist, a security officer, and a karateka

The trip’s clients were represented by two Russians. The first was a 50-year-old Russian Yuri Golovanov, an employee of the St. Petersburg-based company “Baltic Star,” which organizes VIP events and rents out luxury vehicles.

Journalists have highlighted his contacts with an individual linked to the Wagner Group, as well as his possible involvement in the attempted coup in Kyrgyzstan in 2023. At the time of the operation, he was working for a company that organizes transportation and security services for events involving high-ranking officials. The authors of the investigation found no direct evidence of his service in special forces.

The second is 60-year-old Pyotr Grib. As journalists discovered, he previously commanded a military unit of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Internal Troops, collaborated with various law enforcement agencies, and was associated with veterans’ organizations of the Russian special services.

Golovanov and Grib arrived in Istanbul nearly a week before the trip, which was scheduled for August 11. However, shortly before departure, during a test run at sea, a technical malfunction was discovered on the yacht, so the trip had to be postponed for ten days.

The third member of the group was 40-year-old Belarusian Yuri Puzikov—a Kyokushin karate coach and referee. An investigation revealed that he may have known Anatoly Kotov long before the events on the yacht. Puzikov worked at the “Adrazhenne” sports association, which was headed at various times by former employees of the KGB and the Operational-Analytical Center.

These same individuals were linked to the company “BTS Global,” which, with the support of the State Military-Industrial Committee, manufactures and sells drones. The authors of the investigation identify a former KGB officer Yuri Serykh as a key figure in this network. He headed “Adrazhenne” and remains the owner of “BTS Global” today.

Kotov was personally acquainted with Serykh. They may have met while at the National Olympic Committee, where both worked at the same time. Serykh was even supposed to be a guest at Kotov’s wedding, and photos of them together have been preserved on social media.

Journalists also discovered that there was a close overlap of staff between “Adrajenn,” “BTS Global,” and the affiliated company Tres International. Yuri Puzikov, his wife, and other people from Serykh’s inner circle worked at these organizations at various times.

On “Adrajennia’s” social media accounts, journalists found photos of Kotov: in one of them, he is posing alongside Puzikov’s wife, who later became an employee of the organization. Puzikov himself also appeared in photos published by “Adrazhenna.” However, the journalists did not find any photos of the two men together, so they cannot confirm that they knew each other.

A woman was also involved

The fourth participant was a 49-year-old Jordanian citizen and native of Azerbaijan, Kahira Eynalova. Her role turned out to be particularly important, as she had known Kotov personally long before these events. Einalova told journalists that she had been in a romantic relationship with Kotov. Investigators obtained their correspondence and a photo of the two together dating back to 2023.

According to Eynalova, Kotov borrowed 5,000 euros from her. Journalists were unable to confirm this debt, but discovered that shortly before his trip to Turkey, the man had indeed been looking for a way to obtain money from the United Arab Emirates.

About a week before his departure, he asked a businessman acquaintance to provide the details of an Emirati bank card, into which someone was supposed to deposit cash in Dubai. It is unknown exactly who transferred the money, but the investigators do not rule out the possibility that it could have been Eynalova.

On the eve of the trip, Kotov also told friends that the host party would cover all expenses for an important meeting in Turkey.

Journalists were unable to determine exactly what connected Kotov and Eynalova. It is known that they met no later than 2023, following one of Kotov’s trips to Dubai. At that time, he spoke frequently to acquaintances about his new contacts in the UAE and potential business projects. According to one of his friends, Kotov even claimed that he had been offered a position as an advisor to one of the princes. In their correspondence, Eynalova told him that an Azerbaijani businessman Anar Mamedov had allegedly taken an interest in his project.

During the same period, Kotov discussed other business ideas related to the Persian Gulf countries with his partners. In April 2025, he visited Dubai again and held several meetings there, some of which he did not even mention to his close friends. The authors of the investigation do not rule out the possibility that it was then that he may have met with some of the people who later turned out to be with him on the yacht Shells.

Operation

On the morning of August 21, 2025, Kotov left Warsaw for the airport. According to those close to him, he seemed agitated and nervous. He told his wife he was traveling for work, but at work he said it was for personal reasons. He took only a small suitcase, his phone, and his laptop with him. By evening, via Istanbul, he had reached Trabzon, Turkey, and boarded the yacht Shells along with Kahira Einalova.

At that point, Golovanov and Grib were already on the yacht. Puzikov was there as well, but after Kotov’s arrival, he went ashore and did not return to the vessel.

Officially, the captain informed the port authorities that the yacht was headed for Sochi, Russia. However, as journalists discovered, the actual route was different. The vessel was headed for Sukhumi—the capital of self-proclaimed Abkhazia.

The trip to Abkhazia seemed risky for Kotov. At that time, he was already the subject of an international arrest warrant, so he could have been detained not only in Russia but also in Abkhazia, where local law enforcement agencies work closely with their Russian counterparts. Journalists were unable to determine whether Kotov knew the actual route of the trip and whether he had consciously agreed to it.

Kakhira Einalova claims that the group had originally intended to go to Georgia and had even planned to visit a casino. However, after relaxing and drinking alcohol, the plans allegedly changed. According to her, she wasn’t interested in the conversations among the other passengers and doesn’t know what decisions they made. As a result, the yacht headed for Russia.

According to Eynalova’s account, Kotov left the yacht along with the other passengers, after which she never saw him again and heard nothing about his fate.

However, other sources describe the events of the morning of August 22 differently. According to them, the yacht initially approached the coast near Sukhumi, but the Russians then ordered it to change course and head for the port of Ochamchira. This city is also located in Abkhazia, but south of Sukhumi. A Russian FSB border guard station is located there.

While Kotov was sleeping in his cabin, the captain contacted the port to obtain permission to dock. In response, he was ordered to wait at sea and not to approach the fishermen until a transfer boat arrived. However, instead of that boat, a Russian coast guard vessel approached the yacht. As noted in the investigation, satellite images show that around that time (12:30 p.m. Georgian time), a patrol vessel left a Russian base and, a few minutes later, set course toward the yacht Shells.

According to journalists, the Russian passengers on the yacht themselves called the coast guard. They claimed that Anatoly Kotov had allegedly gotten drunk that night, attacked them, and beat them.

According to sources, Russian FSB border guards boarded the yacht, broke into Kotov’s cabin, dragged him out, ordered the captain to remove the Belarusian from the passenger list, and transferred him to their own vessel. After that, the FSB vessel sailed out to sea.

The remaining passengers stayed on the yacht. The Russians ordered the captain to sail to Sukhumi, where they themselves went ashore and then headed for Russia. Eynalova then returned to Trabzon. The yacht’s crew was dismissed after the voyage ended.

Journalists note that they do not know whether Kotov was aware of exactly where the yacht was headed during the final hours of the voyage. According to Eynalova, he fell asleep after a drinking party with the Russian passengers. Other sources claim that he was feeling ill and was vomiting.

At the same time, all of Kotov’s acquaintances interviewed by journalists stated that he was not prone to physical aggression, either when sober or after drinking alcohol. None of them could recall any instances where he had behaved in such a manner.

The authors of the investigation emphasize that all the circumstances described were verified through several independent sources, and the documents and recordings of conversations with informants are available to the editorial staff.

What about the yacht?

At the time of the operation, the yacht Shells, on which Kotova was transported to the Abkhazian coast, belonged to the British company MGA Yachting LTD. Until 2022, the ultimate owner of the yacht was Turkish businessman Toygar Edigöz, who is linked to the company Fix Defence. The company manufactures body armor and drones for the military—just like the Belarusian firm “BTS Global,” to which the investigation had already traced a connection through a network of former KGB and Operational-Analytical Center employees.

Investigators also uncovered other links between the yacht and this company. One of the captains of the Shells listed Fix Defence as his place of employment. In addition, the Heydarovs—husband and wife—were linked to both entities: Emin Heydarov (an Azerbaijani, like Kahira Eynalova) was part of Fix Defence’s management, and his wife Sabina became the owner of MGA Yachting in 2022, the company under which the yacht was registered during the operation. According to the authors, Heydarov flew to Belarus on multiple occasions.

Six months after Kotov’s disappearance, the vessel was sold to a company based in the Marshall Islands, which does not disclose its true owners. After the sale, the yacht was renamed YS Legacy.

Journalists noted that in March 2026, the Belarusian company “BTS Global” filed an application to register a trademark with the same name. They also note that the letters “YS” match the initials of “BTS Global” owner Yuri Serykh. In addition, they discovered another coincidence: the yacht’s new owners were registered in the Marshall Islands at the same address as the company that had previously transferred one of its assets to Yuri Serykh.

According to the authors, they reached out to the individuals involved in this story and others mentioned in the investigation for comment. Kakhira Eynalova stated that she did not understand the questions and threatened legal action in the event of further inquiries. Yuri Golovanov read the journalist’s message on Telegram but did not respond. As of the time of publication, other individuals involved in the investigation had also not responded to inquiries.

Separately, the investigators draw attention to the Polish authorities’ response to Kotov’s disappearance. In September 2025, the Polish prosecutor’s office refused to open a criminal case regarding his deprivation of liberty. According to journalists, for ten months after his disappearance, the police and security services did not conduct any active investigative actions: they did not question Kotov’s relatives and acquaintances, nor did they examine his belongings or electronic devices. In response to a request from journalists, the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office stated that it is not investigating his disappearance.

As of the publication of this investigation on June 18, 2026, the fate of Anatoly Kotov remains unknown.

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