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Moscow's Kremlin complex
Moscow's Kremlin complex. Source: Canva

A prominent Jewish critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been the target of a smear campaign aimed at silencing him.

Eduard Shyfrin is a vice president of the World Jewish Congress representing Ukraine and has been vocal in condemning the Russian invasion. Shortly after the start of the war, he wrote to the Russian embassy in London to protest the invasion and renounced his Russian citizenship, going so far as to post his Russian passport back to the embassy. He has also written articles against Russian aggression in the Jerusalem Post, donated money to Ukraine's armed forces, and in August 2023 received the Cross of Freedom medal.

This criticism has not gone down well in Russia, where Shyfrin once had substantial business interests, and the authorities have been trying to silence him. The campaign has included the use of fake documents and legal threats.

The FSB has been desperate to shut down Shyfrin's criticism of the invasion of Ukraine because it runs counter to Russian propaganda. The Kremlin has tried to legitimise its actions by claiming it is "denazifying" Ukraine. Moscow has courted Jewish opinion as a moral shield and has claimed that it is trying to eliminate extremism in Ukraine.

Shyfrin, who was born in Ukraine, is one of the highest profile Jewish voices denouncing the invasion and as a vice president of the World Jewish Council his criticism has been embarrassing for the Kremlin.

As part of the smear campaign, a confessional letter purporting to be from Shyfrin was sent to Igor Krasnov, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, making allegations of bribery and corruption of Russian officials.

The letter is amateurishly written and does not read as though it was written by Shyfrin, who has a PhD in metallurgy and is a noted scholar of Kabbalah. Analysis of the signature by handwriting experts in Cyprus also confirms it is a fake.

The fake letter makes numerous absurd claims including that bribes were paid to Sergei Derevyanko, formerly a senior official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow. The letter alleges that bribes were also paid to prosecutors, judges and former FSB officials – although no evidence is offered to support these claims.

Mr Shyfrin has written to the Russian authorities to tell them that the letter was fake. He wrote: "I learned from the mass media of the Russian Federation that apparently I sent a letter to the General Prosecutors offices accusing certain people. I hereby state that I have never sent any letters to the General Prosecutors office and that this letter is fake." Subsequently, former FSB agents sent this letter back to Shyfrin and continued their campaign of harassment.

The FSB has also worked with Valentin Vinogradov, a convicted fraudster, to put further pressure on Shyfrin. Vinogradov was found guilty of stealing about $16 million from one of Shyfrin's company's and he has sought his revenge by working with the Russian authorities to target his former boss.

Vinogradov filed court papers in St. Petersburg claiming that his former boss is actively supporting Ukraine's armed forces against Russia, saying: "E.V. Shyfrin is a citizen of Ukraine and takes an active position to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine." Vinogradov is also understood to be encouraging the Russian authorities to open additional investigations into Shyfrin's past business activities, targeting not only Shyfrin but also his sister, who lives in Ukraine.

An earlier complaint brought by Valentin Vinogradov against his former boss was thrown out by the Russian courts in 2020. But after Russia invaded Ukraine and Shyfrin began to criticise the country, the Russian courts reopened Vinogradov's case and issued an arrest warrant for Shyfrin, who only learned of this through Russian media.

Vinogradov's lawyers in Cyprus confirmed in legal letters that the FSB had initiated the Russian investigation and criminal case against Shyfrin. Their case is based on two sets of commercial documents that appear to have been signed by Shyfrin and would have justified claims made by Vinogradov. These papers were submitted to the courts to advance Vinogradov's interests but independent analysis by handwriting experts have again shown that the Shyfrin signatures are fake.

A Moscow court convicted Vinogradov in 2020 for defrauding Eduard Shyfrin's Midland Group — a metals and real estate conglomerate — handing down a four-year prison sentence. In addition, the Cypriot courts have issued a $16 million worldwide freezing order against Vinogradov covering all his assets.

Valentin Vinogradov was granted political asylum in Slovakia after Russian prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant in 2017. Vinogradov was convicted of fraud in 2020 and he has remained a fugitive within the European Union.

Despite fleeing Russia, Vinogradov's family has rebuilt business interests on both sides of Europe's borders. In Slovakia, his family run a company called Itterra, a Bratislava-based manufacturer of recyclable paper products. Itterra's board is stacked with family members, including his wife Elena, daughters Victoria and Alexandra, and brother-in-law Pavel Khodykin.

According to the Russian corporate registry, Itterra is also the parent company of Biobox Limited, a Moscow-registered manufacturer of household and sanitary paper products that is fully compliant with Russian tax authorities.

The apparent ease with which the Vinogradov family continues to operate a tax-paying Russian corporation — while Valentin himself shelters behind a political asylum claim in the EU — has deepened concern about how the system is being exploited.

Russia has spent considerable diplomatic energy attempting to get prominent Jews to support its "denazifying" invasion of Ukraine. This has largely failed and Jewish critics like Shyfrin remain committed to exposing the Kremlin's lies.

About the Contributor: Jordan A. Whitfield is a journalist covering global trade policy, geopolitical risk and business. Jordan's work has previously appeared in International Business Times, Eureporter, The London Economic and Dispatch Weekly. Before becoming a journalist, Jordan worked as a social media influencer.