Following the money behind Russia’s war

The Oligarch’s Design is a methodical and tightly constructed investigative film that shifts attention away from front-line events to the less visible systems of power shaping conflict from behind the scenes.

Through documents, expert testimony and investigative reporting, it examines how financial influence, political access and narrative control intersect in ways that often remain hidden from public view.

The film draws on international reporting and open-source intelligence to examine the role of Ruben Vardanyan, following his transition from activities within Russia’s financial elite to involvement in political processes in the region. It highlights his renunciation of Russian citizenship in 2022 and his subsequent position within an unrecognised separatist organisation.

One strand of the documentary’s investigation examines Troika Dialog, a Moscow-based investment bank that played a prominent role in Russia’s post-Soviet financial system. “Troika Dialog was seen at the time as quite different from other Russian banks. Troika was professional. It was run by Ruben Vardanyan, who had extremely good links into the West,” said Juliette Garside, editor for European financial affairs at The Guardian, in the film.

That reputation is reassessed through leaked banking records detailing networks of shell companies and offshore accounts used to move vast sums of money out of Russia. Explaining how such systems functioned, Garside said: “Money from legitimate and illegitimate sources goes in, all gets mixed together, and then it comes out the other side.”

Analysts interviewed in the documentary argue that these financial mechanisms are inseparable from Russia’s political system. “The oligarchs were important under Yeltsin, when property was being carved up. But under Putin, they served the regime, and they hold their wealth at the behest of the regime,” said David Satter, a journalist and historian at Johns Hopkins University. Under this system, wealth accumulation is closely tied to political alignment and state consent.
Influence, the film suggests, is exercised not only through capital but also through reputation and access. “Russian oligarchs certainly use philanthropy, especially arts philanthropy, as a way of gaining access to Western society,” said Elisabeth Schimfoessl, a senior lecturer in sociology at Aston University, pointing to cultural patronage as a tool of legitimacy.

As international scrutiny has intensified, tolerance for opaque financial power has diminished. “This war is about democracy versus kleptocracy,” Garside said in the documentary. “We have to track their money, and we have to name it for what it is.”
Investigative journalists featured in the film say the consequences of this system became clearer once the war began. “The reluctance to take decisive measures was one of the reasons they were able to fund the war against Ukraine,” said Sarunas Cerniauskas, head of the Investigative Journalism Center Siena.

From Ukraine’s perspective, financial networks linked to Russia’s elite are inseparable from the country’s military capacity and the human cost of the conflict. “We must sanction people who help Russia, and Ruben Vardanyan is one of the people who enabled Russia to kill,” said Agia Zagrabelska, head of the policy team at the Economic Security Council of Ukraine.

The documentary also examines links between Russia’s financial elite and its military and logistics infrastructure. Companies such as Volga-Dnepr and Kamaz feature in investigations exploring how civilian industries support military capacity. Beyond Ukraine, the film turns to developments in Karabakh during a sensitive phase of the Azerbaijan–Armenia peace process. Analysts interviewed argue that the timing was politically significant, given that access to the territory was controlled by Russian peacekeeping forces. Commenting on this, Orkhan Amashov, a political analyst and deputy editor-in-chief at AnewZ TV, said: “It would have been impossible for anyone to enter territory of Azerbaijan temporarily controlled by Russian peacekeeping forces without some form of acquiescence from the Kremlin.”

His subsequent role as a prominent media figure is described in the documentary as promoting narratives that complicated dialogue and reinforced reliance on Russian forces. Allegations also point to efforts that sustained separatist structures and deepened divisions at a time when reintegration discussions were under way.

Azerbaijani authorities later detained him in September 2023 as he attempted to leave the country. He now faces criminal charges that remain subject to ongoing judicial proceedings.
Grounded in verified sources and investigative findings, The Oligarch’s Design documents mechanisms of power rather than offering opinion, contributing to transparency, accountability and informed public understanding.

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