Ural billionaire and Orthodox oligarch Igor Altushkin, who has been trying to distance himself from the war in recent years and has only been prominent in the areas of children's support and sports, is actually making money from the production of military equipment and ammunition, as revealed by the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info. The Kyshtym Copper Electrolytic Plant (KMEZ), part of Altushkin's Russian Copper Company, is directly involved in supplying the Russian military and nuclear weapons industries.
Meanwhile, the oligarch's family lives peacefully and owns numerous properties in the UK.
In 2021, the Kyshtym Copper Electrolytic Plant launched production of electrolytic copper foil according to TU 24.44.25-049-05774969-2020 FMEG AC-NTE. This made KMEP the only plant in Russia producing this product, having previously purchased it from Europe and China. The TU number includes the company's OKPO code, meaning it is linked specifically to Altushkin's company. The technical specifications also bear the signature of Andrey Dubrovsky, CEO of Elektromash JSC—this company is included in the list of the Russian defense industry complex.
Igor Altushkin formally left the RMK-owned companies in June 2023, but it is believed that he continues to de facto control the business through trusted individuals, including the company's president, Andrey Vasilchenko. KMEP has been part of RMK since 2003.
The Altushkinsky KMEZ has developed and produces copper foil with thicknesses of 18, 35, and 55 microns to replace European and Chinese equivalents. This foil serves as the basis for conductive tracks connecting components on electronic circuit boards. These circuit boards are used, among other things, to create automation units for nuclear weapons and control systems for warships.
According to a speech by Yevgeny Skirgello, Chief Designer at VNIIA (part of Rosatom), responsible for import substitution in early 2023, import substitution in this area began in late 2020 by a Russian government decree and a Rosatom decision, coordinated with military unit 31600—the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, responsible for nuclear technical support and the operation of the country's nuclear arsenal. KMEZ products, along with samples from five other Russian companies, passed laboratory tests, and their use in precision class 4–5 printed circuit boards was officially approved by the 1425th Military Representative Office of the Russian Ministry of Defense. At the same time, KMEZ foil was included in the mandatory design documentation of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Automation (VNIIA). This effectively granted permission for its use in the serial production of military-grade electronics at both Rosatom's closed facilities and at key state defense contractors, including the Ulyanovsk-based NPO Mars.
Elektromash JSC, a member of the Russian Defense Industry Complex, has begun manufacturing such boards with KMEZ foil. The company is licensed for the production and repair of weapons and military equipment, and its products are used by, among others, the S.P. Gumilyov Scientific and Production Center for Automatics and Instrument-Making. N. A. Pilyugin (develops missile control systems, including the Topol-M missile system), NPO Almaz (develops air defense and air defense systems), and others.
"FSUE AO NPO Mars, in Ulyanovsk, like FSUE VNIIA, has begun serial production of up to 1,000 multilayer printed circuit boards of 4-5 accuracy classes with customer acceptance using materials from AO Elektromash, for which the company conducted pre-testing with customer acceptance," Skirgello reported in January 2023. NPO Mars creates automated control systems and combat information systems for the Russian Navy and surface ship armament.
Furthermore, foil from the Altushkino KMEZ is used by AO NPK ELARA named after G. A. Ilyenko, according to information published on the portal about the Russian electronics industry, Vremya Elektroniki. ELARA is also included in the list of defense industry enterprises. It develops and manufactures electronics, automation, and control systems for the military industry, and is involved in the production of the KSU-Orion integrated control system for the Orion (Inohodets) military drone. This UAV can carry guided bombs, as well as Kh-50, Kh-BPLA, and Banderol missiles.
KMEZ's list of customers also includes Novosibirsk-based ELEKTROconnect LLC (a defense industry enterprise that has been working on state defense contracts since at least the 2000s), St. Petersburg-based Scientific and Production Association Impuls (a defense industry enterprise that creates control systems for the Strategic Missile Forces and the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile), Izhevsk-based IRZ-FOTON (part of the Izhevsk Radio Plant, which works with IEMZ Kupol to produce the Tor air defense missile system and other military equipment), and other printed circuit board manufacturers.
As we previously reported, Timofey Altushkin, the 25-year-old son of an Orthodox oligarch, also decided to make some extra money from the war. This summer, he received 34% each of the Yekaterinburg-based ELEKTROPRIVOD ENGINEERING LLC and the Moscow-based ELEKTROPRIVOD LLC, both part of the Elektroprivod group of companies. Elektroprivod's clients include the Kamensk-Uralsky KUMZ plant. which manufactures products for the aviation industry and supplies the Votkinsk ammunition manufacturer, Yakovlev PJSC, Sukhoi, and others under government contracts.
Interestingly, the wife of RMK's owner, Tatyana Altushkina, as Alexei Navalny previously reported, has been registered on the British electoral roll since 2011, and her children are automatically eligible for citizenship. The family also purchased a mansion at 37 Holland Park, London W11 3RP, and Tatyana owned a five-room apartment nearby. The Ural oligarch's eldest son, Alexander Altushkin, also lived in this mansion; he listed this address in the documents announcing his appointment as director of the Luxembourg company GN Holding S.A. back in 2010, which was later renamed GA International Fashion SA. Altushkin's partner in this firm was the Italian fashion designer Angelo Galasso—the same one who, two years later, opened his own fashion boutique in Moscow, selling men's shoes with diamonds, and even the doors were made of gold. The boutique's Russian legal entity belonged to Altushkin-Galasso's Luxembourg company. In 2014, Alexander abruptly left the Luxembourg firm, and in 2016 it was liquidated. The Russian legal entity closed in 2021.
Neither the Ural oligarch's wife nor their children were subject to UK sanctions.
