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Anton Panov, a cryptographer who officially died by suicide at Russia’s embassy in Cyprus last week, had links to senior figures in the Foreign Ministry, the nationalist LDPR party, and an SVR military unit involved in cyberintelligence, The Insider was able to confirm. Panov also communicated with Sergei Tsekov, who is wanted by Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, and with a Luhansk-based informant, Alexander Borisov, known by the alias “Sasha Sniper.”
According to phone billing records obtained by The Insider, Panov contacted Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shortly before his assignment to Cyprus, as well as Lavrov’s adviser Bakhtier Khakimov, Deputy Foreign Ministers Mikhail Bogdanov and Galina Shulga, and Andrei Lysikov, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Currency and Financial Department. Lysikov’s department is often associated with intelligence officers from the SVR and GRU operating under diplomatic cover.
Panov also called Vasily Vanevtsov and Yevgeny Stanislavov, Russia’s ambassadors to Moldova and Hungary, as well as Andrei Lanchikov, a counselor at the Russian Embassy in Uzbekistan. Another contact was the aforementioned Tsekov, a former senator from occupied Crimea who is wanted by the Ukrainian authorities.
One of Panov’s contacts was listed as “Sasha Sniper,” a figure who has been identified as Alexander Borisov, a native of Luhansk known for filing denunciations against opposition politicians and media outlets. In 2019, Borisov published a petition on Change.org addressed to Vladimir Putin calling for the closure of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, accusing the outlet of “supporting terrorism and same-sex marriages.”
In 2014, Borisov was among the organizers of pro-Russian rallies in Crimea and eastern Ukraine; he then joined the Kremlin-backed “separatist” militias, serving as a sniper. In 2018, Borisov founded the Moscow-based “Children Draw Peace” Foundation. Using the theme of children’s suffering in the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, he organized exhibitions of children’s drawings in Europe and Asia, attracting sizable donations.
The recently deceased Panov previously studied at the Faculty of Infocommunication Technologies and Special Communications Systems at a branch of the Federal Protective Service (FSO) academy in Voronezh and maintained contact with his former classmates. In December 2021, he attended the funeral of FSO Captain Andrei Lobachev, who died of COVID-19. Panov worked as a cryptographer at the FSB’s Atlas Scientific and Technical Center before being transferred to the Foreign Ministry and seconded to the department dealing with compatriots abroad.
A source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told The Insider that Panov’s appointment was facilitated by Ilya Sosnovsky, an aide to LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky, who is known for his ties to Russia’s security services. Panov maintained operational contact with SVR Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Petrishchev, who previously served in Unit No. 54939 (registered in Moscow at the so-called SVR Residents’ House on Goncharnaya Street). The unit focused on social media analysis and online intelligence gathering but was later disbanded following financial scandals.
The Russian Embassy in Cyprus reported Panov’s death on Jan. 12, saying he had died on Jan. 8 but giving no cause. The embassy described him as an “embassy employee.” Local broadcaster ANT1 reported that Panov took his own life in his office and left a suicide note, which the embassy planned to send to Moscow.
The anonymous project VChK-OGPU later reported that Panov was an SVR officer and cryptographer, claiming he was an avid gambler who placed bets on sporting events. That information was later confirmed by the investigative outlet Important Stories.