Family of designer of Russian kamikaze drones "Lancet" Zakharov owns real estate in elite area of London, - media. PHOTOS
The wife and son of Alexander Zakharov, the Russian designer of the Lancet kamikaze drones, owns a £1.5m apartment in an upmarket London neighbourhood.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to"Important Stories".
"While the designer Alexander Zakharov is arming the Russian army, his son Lavrentiy Zakharov is working at the UN Institute for Disarmament Affairs.
Svetlana and Lavrenty Zakharov, the wife and son of the creator of Russian Lancet combat drones, have owned an apartment in an elite London neighbourhood worth £1.5 million (approximately 180 million rubles at the current exchange rate) since 2018. The UK has imposed sanctions on the drone manufacturer, CST LLC, but not on the Zakharov family," the statement said.
Alexander Zakharov
Alexander Zakharov is a Russian designer who has been developing and manufacturing drones for over 15 years. His most famous invention is the Lancet kamikaze drone, which delivers a live charge directly to a target - a tank, artillery piece, radar, etc. The drone was used in Syria and is now widely used in the war with Ukraine.
In propaganda stories, Zakharov is called the "second Kalashnikov". His company, CST, is indeed part of the Kalashnikov concern, but Zakharov owns the controlling stake. In 2022-2023, the Ministry of Defence bought 5.3 billion rubles worth of drones from CST. Zakharov's family - wife Svetlana, son Nikita and daughter Maria - is involved in the drone business. As noted, the Lancet production uses foreign components that are banned from being supplied to Russia due to sanctions.
"It is common for Putin's elite to make money in Russia on patriotism and war with the West, while at the same time investing and spending what they earn in the same hostile West. This elite does not want to recognise the contradiction here, and the Zakharov family is no exception. According to the UK property registry, the Zakharovs bought an apartment in the Westminster area, about a kilometre from Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. The real estate agency's website has an advert for this apartment with photos and a floor plan. The apartment is small - less than 100 sq. m, it has three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen-dining room, and a balcony. There is a gym in the building and a view of Big Ben from the roof," the post says.
Lavrentiy Zakharov is the younger son of Lancet drone designer Alexander Zakharov. He is a good student and has had a successful start to his career, but neither of these would suggest that he could have earned his way into a flat in London.
Lavrentiy Zakharov
According to his LinkedIn profile, Lavrentiy Zakharov has been living abroad since at least 2015, when he was 16 years old. In the UK, he completed his schooling and received a Bachelor's degree in Politics, Sociology and East European Studies from University College London, followed by a Master's degree in Conflict Resolution from the London School of Economics. Since July 2021, Lavrentiy has worked for UN agencies in New York and Rome, and since May 2023, he has been working at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva, Switzerland. According to UNIDIR's website, Lavrentiy Zakharov's research interests include the weapons and ammunition management programme, mine action and humanitarian access.
In addition, it is reported that Svitlana and Lavrentiy Zakharov did not respond to the journalists' request.
