The Financial and Analytical Administration of the Czech Republic (FAU) has seized the Czech assets of the family of Boris Obnosov, CEO of the Russian defense holding Corporation Tactical Missiles, whose members are subject to national sanctions. This is reported by “Czech TV”.
The Czech authorities also seized the property of Rostislav Zorikov, Obnosov’s son-in-law. We are talking about a penthouse with a view of Prague worth about a million euros, as well as a house in the center of Prague, which can cost about six million euros. Zorikov’s company rents it out.
In addition, Zorikov’s real estate company Riomax fell under the arrest of the FAU, which he re-registered to his father before the introduction of national sanctions.
“Despite the re-registration of property within the family, the connection between them is obvious. In addition, members of the Obnosva family are involved in the business that has developed around the Russian Ministry of Defense,” Christina Weinbender, editor of the Investigace website, told the TV channel.
National sanctions against Russia’s chief rocket scientist Boris Obnosov, his daughter Olga Zorikova and son-in-law Rostislav Zorikov were introduced on 16 August.
Under the leadership of Obnosov, tens of thousands of people in different parts of Russia are making weapons that the RF Ministry of Defense allegedly uses only for high-precision strikes and only against military facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In fact, these missiles have been destroying civilian infrastructure and the civilian population of Ukraine for over a year now.
Navalny’s team spoke about Zorikov’s real estate in Prague back in May 2023. The investigators promised to seek sanctions both for the Zorikovs and for Obnosov himself.
After the publication of the investigation, numerous publications appeared in the media about the property of the Obnosov family in Prague. In them, journalists criticized the Czech authorities for their silence regarding Obnosov’s daughter and son-in-law living in Prague. Among other things, the Czech media drew attention to the incident involving Zorikov, which occurred on July 13, 2023 in Prague. Then Obnosov’s son-in-law attacked Andrey Karelin, an activist of the Vesna movement. He specially came to Prague to hold a picket near the building owned by Rostislav Zorikov’s company.
Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakuan responds to criticism declaredthat he, together with the head of the country’s Foreign Ministry, Jan Lipavsky, will consider the possibility of including Zorikov on the national sanctions list.
At the end of July, a group of MEPs demanded to impose EU sanctions against Obnosov and his family members. According to Petar Tanev, the author of the initiative, the FBK actively lobbied for sanctions against the family of the chief rocket man of the Russian Federation, but the EU was “in no hurry” to include him on the sanctions list. “To speed up the process, the MEPs have developed this requirement, it must be considered as soon as possible,” he stressed.
