Boris Zimin
Boris Zimin, born 1968, Moscow. Charges: Article 159 part 4, Russian Criminal Code (Fraud (committed by a group, on an especially large scale or with deprivation of the right to…); “Boris Zimin's fraud case”. Sentence (April 22, 2025): 9 years' imprisonment in absentia, a fine of 1 million roubles, and a 2 years' ban on activities related to the… Status: not in Russia.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Entrepreneurs · Anti-war cases, Terrorism cases, Cases against "foreign agents"
Sentence
9 years
imprisonment in absentia, a fine of 1 million roubles, and a 2 years' ban on activities related to the performance of management functions in commercial organisations
No information about an appeal ruling.
Charges
- Article 205.4 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code — Organisation of a terrorist community and participation in it
- Article 278, Russian Criminal Code — Violent seizure of power or alteration of the constitutional order
- Article 159 part 4, Russian Criminal Code — Fraud (committed by a group, on an especially large scale or with deprivation of the right to housing)
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, between February 2017 and October 2019, he orchestrated the theft of 100% of the shares of the carsharing company BelkaCar Ltd, valued at 367 million roubles, through a share transfer transaction.
Latest event
November 13, 2025 — added to the rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
Timeline
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 9 years
· Criminal case opened
The case of Anti-War Committee of Russia
· Persecution begins
Boris Zimin's fraud case
· Added to the register of “foreign agents”
Criminal case
Boris Zimin's fraud case
The case of Anti-War Committee of Russia
Other defendants in the case
- Sergei Aleksashenko — Not in Russia
- Marat Gelman — Not in Russia
- Leonid Gozman — Not in Russia
- Dmitry Gudkov — Not in Russia
- Sergei Guriev — Not in Russia
- Vladimir Kara-Murza — Not in Russia
- Garry Kasparov — Not in Russia
- Mikhail Kasianov — Not in Russia
- Evgenii Kiselev — Not in Russia
- Mikhail Kokorich — Not in Russia
- Evgenii Kunin — Not in Russia
- Elena Lukyanova — Not in Russia
- Kirill Martynov — Not in Russia
- Yuri Pivovarov — Not in Russia
- Maxim Reznik — Not in Russia
- Artur Smolianinov — Not in Russia
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky — Not in Russia
- Evgenii Chichvarkin — Not in Russia
- Konstantin Chumakov — Not in Russia
- Anastasia Shevchenko — Not in Russia
- Viktor Shenderovich — Not in Russia
- Ekaterina Shulman — Not in Russia
Thematic group: Anti-war case
Details and sources
Full summary
Entrepreneur, philanthropist, patron of the arts. Left Russia in 2004. He was the founder of the Sreda Foundation, which supported independent Russian media. In 2015, the foundation was recognised as a "foreign agent", after which the organisation announced its self-liquidation. He was a member of the board of the Dynasty Foundation for the Support and Development of Russian Fundamental Science. This project was created by Zimin's father - philanthropist Dmitry Zimin, who passed away in 2021. In 2015, "Dynasty" also ceased its activities due to inclusion in the register of "foreign agents". In October 2020, Alexei Navalny revealed that Boris Zimin had paid for a private jet that took the politician after his poisoning from Omsk to Germany. One of the founders of the "Redkollegiya" award in the field of independent journalism. Heads the Zimin Foundation, which has launched several programmes to help students, academics and journalists forced to flee Ukraine and Russia. He has repeatedly spoken out about the war. In January 2023, it became known that a fraud case was opened against Zimin in connection with a deal to alienate shares in the carsharing company BelkaCar Ltd. Zimin considers the case to be politically motivated. On 22nd April 2025, he was sentenced in absentia to nine years' imprisonment. On 14th October 2025, the FSB reported that a case of forcible seizure of power and organisation of a terrorist community had been opened against Zimin and other members of the Anti-War Committee of Russia. The reason was the adoption of the "Berlin Declaration" on the need for a change of power in Russia.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
- Preventive measures
- arrest in absentia
- Persecution episodes
- 2
Other people prosecuted under Article 159 part 4, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.