Date

Author

Sergey Kanev

Source

The Insider

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Internet Archive

Original Material

Blades of glory: Putin’s aide, FSB generals, and a GRU spy lace up with a convict on Russia’s most secretive amateur ice hockey team

The “Buran” amateur hockey team, competing in Russia’s Amateur Hockey League (LHL), has received more than 400 applications for a spot on the roster in 2025 alone. The reason: Vladimir Putin’s so-called “aide” Dmitry Kovalev and powerful FSB General Ivan Tkachev, often described as the “fist” of Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, skate for the squad. In past seasons, Buran players wore jerseys with their last names. This year, however, their uniforms have gone anonymous, displaying only numbers. The Insider has uncovered the full identities of the players on this clandestine team. Alongside Kovalev and General Tkachev are FSB officers embedded in government institutions, a GRU spy, Rosneft’s chief auditor, and a former Russian national hockey player who served prison time for large-scale fraud.

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Previously, Buran was an unremarkable team in the amateur league. But in 2022, senior intelligence officials joined its ranks, and the nonprofit “Sports Association Buran” (ANO) was established. Today, the organization boasts two adult teams — Buran and Buran-2 — a youth squad, and thirteen children’s teams of varying ages. Entry to the youth program is reserved for the children of officers from Russia’s state security agencies and military.

Entry to Buran’s youth program is reserved for the children of officers from Russia’s state security agencies and military.

According to the team’s website, its mission is “to prepare a worthy young generation for future employment in state security and public service for the benefit of the Fatherland.” The organization plans to build its own ice arena and establish a children’s hockey academy. Funding comes from the Samolet Group, which has been linked to the Timchenko-Shoigu clan, and from Vladislav Savelyev, owner of UVM Steel and one of Yekaterinburg’s 100 richest individuals.

Putin’s “aide”

Wearing number 51, Dmitry Kovalev played 14 games in the 2024–2025 season and spent 16 minutes in the penalty box. Within Buran, he commands special respect, as having a connection like him in today’s Russia often leads to appointments at the level of regional governor — or even cabinet minister.

Kovalev gained national attention at the Victory Day Parade in May 2022. That year, as Putin and then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu approached the Eternal Flame to lay flowers with a group of veterans, a tall man emerged from the crowd of security personnel and began speaking to the commander-in-chief, and Putin listened to him intently. It was enough for media outlets including the New York Post to float his name as a possible successor to Putin.

Dmitry Kovalev and Vladimir Putin at the Victory Day parade in Moscow

Kovalev also appeared at a Kremlin reception last month honoring foreign delegations in connection with the 80th anniversary of Victory Day. During Putin’s speech, Kovalev was overheard berating Kremlin pool journalists under his breath for making noise with their equipment.

A forward for Buran, Kovalev previously trained at the Dynamo Youth Sports School and once dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player. However, his parents insisted that he pursue a higher education. After graduating from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), he worked as a programmer at Transneftservice-S LLC, which at the time was owned by Russia’s former Deputy PM Alfred Koch (now living in Germany) and future Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov, who was subsequently sentenced to 12 years for embezzlement.

Later, Kovalev worked in the PR agency iMARS Media with journalists and bloggers who produced paid content for major Russian state corporations. Eventually, his name began appearing in the contacts of Kremlin and government press corps reporters, listed as: “Dmitry Vitalyevich Kovalev, Government Press Service.” How did Kovalev build his career? There are two theories. One credits Abyzov’s patronage, while the other points to his own father, a former police chief in the Moscow Region’s Mytishchi District.

While working for the police, the elder Kovalev befriended Anton Vaino, head of the Presidential Administration, who owns luxury property in the Mytishchi area. The elder Kovalev reportedly visited Vaino’s mansion weekly, asking, “Everything alright? Neighbors not too noisy?” Eventually, the officer asked Vaino for help in getting a job for his son.

In 2019, Kovalev began drawing a salary from the Presidential Administration. “At first, he worked with our technical director organizing the president’s public appearances — Internet, microphones, lights, drone footage, action cams — then [Kremlin spokesman] Dmitry Peskov brought him on,” a camera operator for the state-controlled broadcasting company VGTRK told The Insider.

Today, Kovalev manages the Kremlin press pool and serves as its journalists’ main source of information. He is even rumored to be a potential successor to Peskov as Putin’s press secretary. Kovalev’s father now leads Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Kaluga — a regional subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned gas giant.

General Tkachev

“We try not to go hard on Ivan Ivanovich on the ice. God forbid you accidentally check him — you’ll have nothing but trouble afterward,” a player from rival team Zapolyarnik told The Insider, requesting anonymity. Despite opponents going easy on him, Buran captain Tkachev has not scored this season.

General Tkachev’s real prowess, however, lies in managing a vast intelligence network that allows him to target ministers, governors, and oligarchs for investigation. As the former head of the FSB's Internal Security Directorate — the 6th Service, nicknamed “Sechin’s Spetsnaz” — Tkachev oversaw the high-profile arrests of Komi Republic Governor Vyacheslav Gaizer, Kirov Governor Nikita Belykh, and Lt. Gen. Denis Sugrobov of the Interior Ministry’s anti-corruption unit.

Tkachev gained notoriety due to his attempt to pressure Serpukhovsky District head Alexander Shestun to resign in favor of Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov. If Shestun didn’t, Tkachev warned, “they’ll bury you before the election…they’ll dig something up and throw you behind bars — don’t you want to live?” Shestun resisted for a while, posting video appeals to the president on YouTube along with audio recordings of conversations with officials from the Presidential Administration. Ultimately, however, he was charged with land fraud, sentenced to 15 years in a maximum-security colony, and fined 49 million rubles (around $625,000).

In 2016, Tkachev moved from the FSB’s Internal Security Directorate — known as the Sixth Service — to head Directorate “K” of the FSB’s Economic Security Service, gaining oversight of Russia’s entire financial system. Major arrests soon followed. In 2016, he oversaw the arrest of Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev, who had allegedly solicited a $2 million bribe from Igor Sechin in exchange for approving Rosneft’s purchase of Bashneft — Russia’s fastest-growing oil company at that time.

In 2016, Tkachev oversaw the arrest of Russia’s Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev.

Next came the arrest of former minister Mikhail Abyzov, whose company had been the starting point on the career path of Putin’s “aide” Kovalev. This was followed by the imprisonment of the Magomedov brothers, owners of the Summa Group and close associates of Dmitry Medvedev, and also of Senator Rauf Arashukov and American investor Michael Calvey. Among the most recent high-profile cases was the arrest of three deputies of the now-former head of the Russian Federal Customs Service, Vladimir Bulavin — whom the Sechin clan reportedly intended to replace with Oleg Gubaidulin, a former officer of the FSB’s Internal Security Directorate.

A former officer of the FSB’s Internal Security Directorate described Tkachev to The Insider by saying: “Over a drink, Ivan Ivanovich likes to reminisce about his trip to Cuba and how much he enjoyed the young Cuban women there. That’s the only place he’s ever been.”

Tkachev was born in the village of Borisovka in Russia’s Belgorod Region. His mother, Valentina Pavlovna, is originally from western Ukraine and never learned to speak Russian. Rivals from a competing FSB clan spread rumors that when Ukrainian drones began striking Borisovka, the general allegedly sent a plane to evacuate his mother (though in reality, the elderly woman never left the area). Tkachev’s wife, Olga, rocketed up the career ladder — from working as a regular schoolteacher to heading the Education Department of the Moscow Region’s Odintsovo District. She also leads the fan club of the Buran hockey team — which is mostly made up of the wives of officers from the FSB’s Directorate “K.”

Ivan Tkachev, hockey player

General Tkachev’s daughter, Anna, married a young FSB officer, Vladislav Konev — also born in the village of Borisovka. Their wedding was held at Barvikha Luxury Village just outside Moscow, a high-end venue favored by millionaires and Russian celebrities.

Anna now works at the recruitment agency Worldskills Russia, which was part of the international Worldskills network before the invasion of Ukraine prompted the parent organization to sever ties. Until recently, the Russian branch was headed by United Russia Supreme Council member Robert Urazov, who had been awarded the Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” 2nd Class, by Vladimir Putin. In June 2024, Urazov was arrested by the FSB’s “K” Directorate and charged with embezzling 300 million rubles ($3.8 million). A source at Worldskills Russia told The Insider that the arrest was preceded by an internal power struggle at the agency — one in which General Tkachev’s daughter played an active role.

“Papa Oleg” and FSB handlers

Oleg Avdeyev, 54, plays left-handed for Buran, having taken the ice in 11 games this season — without getting on the scoresheet. He began his career at the FSB’s branch in Yaroslavl, later joining the local customs office and Russia’s state internet watchdog Roskomnadzor. He is now a deputy to General Tkachev. Subordinates call him “Papa Oleg.”

“He doesn’t part with his phone, even during games,” a source in the LHL told The Insider. He frequently contacts Tkachev and Internal Security officers Yaroslav Starshinov and Maxim Khodakov, known for arresting colleagues from other FSB units. His call logs include a relative — Maxim Avdeev, head of the Federal Center for Unmanned Aerial Systems — and Igor Kolokolov, head of Avangard Practical Shooting Center. Also listed are Moscow restaurateurs and businessmen from Krasnodar and Kaliningrad.

Oleg Avdeev

Avdeev often contacts Timur Maksimov, founder of EcoSportService LLC, who manages cleaning for Buran’s uniforms. Curiously, in some Moscow residents' phones, the “cleaner” is listed as “Gen. Tkachev’s assistant” or “Gen. Tkachev’s driver.” Another of Avdeev’s curious contacts is “Ksyusha Lopez,” who turned out to be a male dancer at a Moscow gay bar moonlighting as a sex worker. According to sources with knowledge of the matter, Ksyusha has long been an FSB informant — with a client list including officials, bankers, and businessmen.

Avdeev sometimes calls “Ksyusha Lopez” — a male dancer at a Moscow gay bar who sources say has long been an FSB informant.

FSB Colonel Dmitry Andronov is another key figure on the Buran hockey team. Previously, he served as the FSB’s representative at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna and later sat on the supervisory board of the Russian payment system Mir. In 2022, Andronov launched an investigation into Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maksim Parshin, who was eventually sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 315 million rubles ($4.01 million) for accepting a 3.7 million ruble bribe ($47,000).

In 2023, Colonel Andronov was transferred from the FSB’s Directorate “K” to the Apparatus of Seconded Officers, and he was subsequently appointed as an advisor to Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov. Evidently, the minister’s consigliere has little time left for hockey — this season, he has scored just one goal and made one assist. That’s likely because Colonel Andronov spends his days calling the country’s leading technical universities and discussing “issues of protecting confidential data and complying with information security requirements.”

The Insider obtained a letter Andronov sent to the rector of Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University (NNSTU), Sergey Dmitriev, in which the colonel strongly urged the rector to cooperate, stressing that “the contents of the conversation are of an official nature and not subject to disclosure.”

Dmitry Andronov

A university staff member provided The Insider with details of the meeting: “Andronov started with talk of a ‘ring of enemies around Russia,’ and then it all boiled down to subtle hints that we should ‘report on colleagues’ who interact with foreign scientists or behave suspiciously.”

Wearing number 50 for Buran is another FSB officer, Colonel Dmitry Orekhov, who is seconded to the Russian Pension Fund. He has played 11 games this season and scored one goal. Orekhov came to the FSB’s Economic Security Service from military counterintelligence and was tasked with overseeing the Federal Treasury. His close relationship with General Tkachev helped him survive the 2019 purge in Directorate “K,” during which over 20 officers were dismissed and Second Department head Denis Cherkalin was prosecuted for bribery.

Cherkalin was found to own five apartments in Moscow, one of which housed valuables and cash totaling 12 billion rubles ($153 million). Investigators were unable to determine who owned the money stash. At the Pension Fund, where Orekhov now serves as an advisor, he has a private office used for discreet conversations with select staff members.

Forward Maksim Skvortsov leads Buran’s offense. Born in the town of Prokopyevsk in the Kemerovo Region in southwest Siberia, he later registered at 40A Ryabinovaya Street in Moscow — the location of the Border Service’s administrative department. Skvortsov now works as a programmer at the FSB’s Center for Information Security, where staff closely monitor social media posts made by opponents of the war in Ukraine and subsequently initiate criminal cases under laws targeting so-called “fake news” about the Russian army.

Sechin’s man, a prison general, and a GRU Spy

Wearing number 8 is FSB General Andrey Vigovsky, a longtime member of Igor Sechin’s power circle. Vigovsky began his intelligence career on the island of Sakhalin in Russia’s Far East and rose to head the regional FSB branch. He initiated the investigation into Sakhalin Governor Alexander Khoroshavin, who had sided with Gazprom during its conflict with Rosneft over access to the Sakhalin pipeline.

Vigovsky’s dossier on Khoroshavin landed on Sechin’s desk. Soon after, FSB Internal Security agents led by Tkachev raided the governor’s office. In February 2018, Khoroshavin was sentenced to 13 years for bribery, and in 2022, he received an additional 15 years on separate charges. Vigovsky later became FSB chief in Krasnoyarsk but retired a year and a half later, officially due to health issues. He appears to have recovered, having played 10 games this season with two goals to his name.

Also skating for Buran is Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) General Yevgeny Gnedov. A graduate of the Omsk Law Institute of the Interior Ministry, he began his career as a criminal investigator in Novosibirsk before moving to the prison service. In 2013, Gnedov moved to Moscow to head FSIN’s Main Operational Directorate.

In Russia’s prison system, FSIN’s Operational Directorate works closely with the FSB’s Department “M,” relying on a network of informants known as “ducks” or “nest hens” — slang for in-cell informers and provocateurs. These agents are often placed alongside high-profile political prisoners, and “nest hens” were used to surveil figures such as oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny, and prominent opposition voices Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.

In 2021, after a scandal over torture and sexual abuse in a prison hospital in Saratov, rumors circulated about Gnedov’s dismissal, though no official confirmation of the fact seemed to have issued.

These days, judging by his hockey stats, the former prison boss seems to have plenty of free time. He has played nine games for Buran this season and also makes appearances for the teams Samolet and Kapital.

Aside from the FSB operatives, Buran’s roster also includes a career GRU officer, Oleg Frolov, who has scored nine goals this season. Frolov began his military service in the Kremlin’s Presidential Regiment and, after graduating from a military academy, was assigned to a classified Airborne Forces signal base in the Medvezhyi Ozera area outside Moscow.

Oleg Frolov

Frolov worked at GRU headquarters on Moscow’s Khoroshevskoye Highway before being assigned to the international oil and gas servicing company Eriell. Under the guise of an engineer, Frolov conducted intelligence work in Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, and Iraq. He now serves as advisor to Russian Post CEO Mikhail Volkov, overseeing the agency’s international operations — a role traditionally reserved for GRU personnel.

An auditor from Rosneft, shadowy businessmen, and a coach with a criminal past

According to the official LHL website, forward Alexei Chirkin (No. 91) plays on the same line as General Tkachev and Dmitry Kovalev. Chirkin serves as director of the Financial Control Department at Rosneft and is part of Sechin’s trusted inner circle. Sources told The Insider that Chirkin secured his job at Rosneft thanks to his father, a former United Russia lawmaker who later joined the Federal Agency for State Reserves.

Chirkin travels extensively to audit Rosneft branches across Russia. In Moscow, he drives a Mercedes with “MR” license plates — favored by ministers, generals, oligarchs, and criminal bosses. General Tkachev’s Land Cruiser also carries MR plates.

Other Buran players come from the world of business and have likely been informally vetted by the security services. These include hotel and travel agency owner Alexei Sukovatov, Sberbank financial analyst Stanislav Alekseenko, dentist and clinic owner Alexei Danilov (from Naberezhnye Chelny), meat trader Dmitry Lukoyanov, United Russia official and FSB party singer Dmitry Solomi, and one Arkady Zyatkovsky (who plays as a defenseman).

Zyatkovsky previously played with Tkachev in the Officer Hockey League before moving with him to the LHL. He co-owned the “36.6” pharmacy chain along with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s ex-son-in-law Alexander Udodov and now publishes Vesyolye Kartinki (lit. “Funny Pictures” and Ugadaika (lit. “Little Guesser”) — modern versions of popular Soviet children’s magazines. Zyatkovsky has frequently appeared in court as a defendant in debt disputes, and bailiffs have barred him from leaving the country. His ties to Tkachev may have helped him avoid more serious consequences.

The president and head coach of Buran is Igor Musatov, a former player for the Russian national hockey team. He leads training sessions for young players and, during breaks, reportedly tells them how “our fighters are bravely battling Nazis in the ‘special military operation’ zone.” In the mid-2000s, Musatov’s name frequently made headlines — not for athletic achievements, but for repeated bar brawls and public disturbances.

At various times, Musatov reportedly brandished a pistol in a restaurant, threw boots at police officers, and rammed a café with his car. In 2011, he was placed on a nationwide wanted list after assaulting a bus driver named Kulik, although the case was ultimately hushed up. In 2013, Musatov married Olympic champion Evgeniya Kanaeva. The couple had a son, and for a while, it seemed the former hockey star had settled down.

Igor Musatov in court

However, in 2019, Musatov was once again placed on a wanted list — and was ultimately jailed. According to the indictment, the former hockey player met a businessman by the name of Abelyan and offered to sell him Bitcoin at a discounted rate in a transaction totalling 45 million rubles ($573,000). In preparation, Musatov and his accomplices rented a space on Moscow’s Maly Kislovsky Lane and remodeled it to resemble a legitimate bank office.

On the agreed day, the businessman arrived with the money, but Musatov was nowhere to be found. He later called, claiming to be stuck in traffic, and asked that the deal proceed without him. Playing the role of a bank employee was Musatov’s acquaintance, Vitaly Artyomenko, who took the money and disappeared. Musatov was sentenced to four years in prison but served only one before being released, after which he returned to the ice — as the coach and mentor of Buran.