In mid-May, 36 countries plus the EU confirmed their intention to participate in establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which is expected to begin its work next year in The Hague. The Kremlin already has its own response: Moscow’s so-called International Public Tribunal on the Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis and Their Accomplices (MOTPUNIP), established under the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. The latter tribunal consists of 72 members, including criminals, genuine neo-Nazis, and numerous “foreigners” who have long been living in Russia. Every six months, the tribunal stamps out reports about the purported “atrocities” being committed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while residents of occupied territories who refused to evacuate and were eagerly awaiting Russian tanks serve as “witnesses.” The project’s supervisors are staff from the propaganda department of the Russian Presidential Executive Office and intelligence service representatives.
Chairperson Grigoryev and the director with a stolen tape recorder
MOTPUNIP was created on March 1, 2022, four days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The idea for the tribunal is attributed to Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin. A source at the Public Chamber told The Insider that “people were being called in a rush and presented with a fait accompli — many don’t even know they were included in the tribunal.”
Maxim Grigoryev, a native of St. Petersburg and a close acquaintance of Bastrykin, was appointed chairman of MOTPUNIP. In the early 2000s Grigoryev was involved in electoral schemes in St. Petersburg, and after moving to Moscow he headed the Foundation for the Study of Democracy Problems, which receives multi-million-ruble grants from the state budget. For example, in 2022 alone, Grigoryev received 8,780,680 rubles ($120,300) for a series of authored analytical programs about the special military operation — its reported title: “The Word Is Ours!” (though The Insider was unable to find any trace of these broadcasts). Grigoryev is the author of propaganda books “Anti-Maidan,” “White Helmets: Accomplices of Terrorists and Sources of Disinformation,” “Crimes of the U.S.-Led Coalition in Syria,” “History of Lithuania,” and “Ukrainian Crimes Against Humanity.”
In 2022, civic activist Grigoryev underwent assault training and a one-month advanced course at the General Staff Academy of the Russian Federation, after which he traveled — posing as a journalist — to the occupied territories of Ukraine to gather “evidence” of the “crimes” of the Kyiv regime. Still, according to a source at the Presidential Executive Office, Grigoryev primarily serves as a “talking head,” while all of the substantive work of MOTPUNIP is done by his longtime associate Denis Teleshev, head of the Institute for Analysis of Neo-Nazi and Extremist Ideologies. The two met in St. Petersburg during an electoral campaign and have been cooperating closely ever since.
Teleshev does not like talking about his youth, as he has a criminal record for robbery: in 1997, he attacked a woman with a knife and stole her tape recorder and bags. However, the judge took pity on the 19-year-old criminal and sentenced him to three years probation with a two-year supervision period.
Teleshev has a criminal record for robbery: in 1997, he attacked a woman with a knife and stole her tape recorder and bags
Now Teleshev runs a network of volunteers who gather testimony from people in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The vast majority of witness accounts about alleged AFU atrocities are highly dubious, as they are recorded from the words of people who refused to evacuate and welcomed the invasion. In most instances, these testimonies are not backed by any documentation and contradict known facts.
Supervisor Miroshnyk and the fugitive Kot
The MOTPUNIP supervisor from the Russian Foreign Ministry is Rodion Miroshnyk, the former press secretary of fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. In his interviews, the “ambassador-at-large on issues of crimes of the Kyiv regime” calls his compatriots “Banderites” and claims that “the West privately acknowledges that the truth is on Russia’s side, but politics comes first, and Ukraine strikes civilians for donations.”
In Ukraine, Miroshnyk is wanted on multiple criminal charges (including participation in the activities of a terrorist organization) and faces 15 years in prison. Despite his status as a government official, Miroshnyk never misses an opportunity to promote two foundations: “Helping Our Own” and “Aid to Novorossiya,” which collect private donations from Russians. His wife Olga works at the TV company R1, which produces pro-Kremlin content.
Phone billing records for Miroshnyk obtained by The Insider reveal contacts with propagandists from NTV, Tsargrad, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Rossiya-24, Zvezda, REN TV, and Life.ru. As the records show, Miroshnyk frequently calls Yuriy Kot, who provides informational support to MOTPUNIP.
In the 2000s, Kot hosted talk shows in his native language on the Ukrainian TV channel Inter. Today, however, he has switched sides and claims that “everything Ukrainian was stolen from the Russians.”
In December 2014, Kot was one of the organizers of the Kyiv Anti-Maidan movement, and Ukraine declared him wanted. In Moscow, the fugitive Kot lives in the so-called House of Resident Spies on Goncharnaya Street, where generals of the foreign intelligence service received elite apartments.
His second wife, Alexandra Reshetnikova-Kot, was previously married to career intelligence officer Vadim Anishchik, and the former couple spied together in Italy. Alexandra’s father is General Leonid Reshetnikov, the former SVR station chief in the Balkans.
General Reshetnikov took an active part in the failed coup attempt in Montenegro that was planned for October 2016. The republic’s authorities got ahead of the conspirators — among whom were Serbian far-right nationalists tasked with storming parliament and assassinating the prime minister. As a result, Reshetnikov had to make an urgent flight to Serbia to manage the situation.
“Foreign experts”: Kremlin lobbyist, extortionist cop, and antisemite
To represent the United States, Grigoryev included Elena Chernykh-Branson on the tribunal’s roster. She is wanted by the FBI and faces 35 years in prison in her “home” country. In 1991, Elena Chernykh married Princeton University economist William Branson, who was 23 years her senior. The arrangement opened doors for Chernykh-Branson, who spent most of her time in Nice and only occasionally visited her husband. In 2006, Branson died suddenly. According to his daughter Emily, "He died in great debt. She blew through his money like crazy." Branson left her his only asset: an apartment overlooking Central Park, which she sold for $1 million.
After her husband’s death, the widow founded the Russian Center in New York and organized loud pro-Kremlin rallies for people from Russia. In addition to the Russian Center, Chernykh-Branson headed the U.S. branch of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots’ Organizations (KSORS), which has been linked to Russian intelligence and was previously covered by The Insider. She also began making frequent trips to Moscow.
In 2020, the FBI took an interest in the activities of Chernykh-Branson’s and searched her home. She was charged with illegal lobbying, refusal to register as a foreign agent, and participation in a fraudulent visa scheme for Russian officials. After that, Chernykh-Branson fled to Moscow. Two years later, her assistant Nomma Zarubina was also arrested on charges of working for Russia Federal Security Service.
In addition to Chernykh-Branson, American nationals John Dugan and Charles Bausman are members of MOTPUNIP. Dugan worked as a deputy sheriff in Palm Beach and faces 21 criminal charges back home related to extortion and illegal wiretapping.
U.S. national John Dugan faces 21 criminal charges at home related to extortion and illegal wiretapping
In Russia, Dugan closely collaborates with the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, which is led by Valery Korovin (the right-hand man of Russian fascist Alexander Dugin) and GRU officer Yury Khoroshenky (also known as Khoroshevsky, a veteran of the notorious unit 29155, which organized the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury and sabotage operations across Europe). However, GRU budget funds are clearly not enough for the fugitive sheriff given that he has placed his CV on a number of closed databases, advertising the following skills: “Experienced executive in developing digital solutions, AI integration, and project management entirely free from Western infrastructure. Development of influential media channels with millions of views dedicated to events in Donbas and frontline reports. Interested in leadership positions — product director, innovation manager, or strategic consultant.”
Another tribunal member, U.S. national Charles Bausman, is closely associated with far-right organizations. Bausman participated in the storming of the Capitol on January 6 and, facing criminal charges, chose to flee to Russia. Previously, this “anti-Nazi campaigner” had closely collaborated with well-known American Nazi Mike Enoch, who denied the Holocaust and had a talent for finding a Jewish conspiracy in just about anything.
In Russia, Bausman founded the news site Russia Insider, which promotes antisemitic views. In interviews with Russian TV channels, he has repeatedly stated that “it is time to lift the taboo on the Jewish topic” and that “hostility toward Putin’s Russia, especially in the U.S. and UK, comes from Jewish circles.”
Before fleeing to Russia, Bausman married Olga Zoloyeva, the daughter of former KGB-SVR spy Igor Zoloyev, who operated under cover as an oil engineer in Algeria. In 2006, Zoloyev served as acting head of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO) and was planning to lead the region; however, Putin appointed another FSB alumnus, Valery Potapenko, to the post. Zoloyev was removed from his position due to his work for commercial organizations, and Potapenko was thus tabbed to head the NAO.
Among those serving alongside the antisemite Bausman in MOTPUNIP is Israeli national Guy Sandal. Born in Kyiv, he moved to Israel with his parents in the early 1990s. In Haifa, Sandal graduated from a design university and served in the Israeli Navy. Judging by his social media accounts, Sandal had previously shown little interest in politics, focusing instead on raising children and cycling. But everything changed when one of his acquaintances brought the former naval serviceman to the Russian consulate in Haifa. There, he was asked to help organize the annual march of the Immortal Regiment and to distribute Saint George ribbons to locals. Since then, Sandal has become a regular at the Russian consulate, and lectures by political analyst Yakov Kedmi, who actively promotes pro-Kremlin narratives, appear to have definitively shaped his political views.
With the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Sandal created the “Israeli Anti-Nazi Front,” apparently on the advice of Russian diplomats, and began taking action: he demanded the expulsion of Ukrainian ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk from Israel and later expressed outrage that wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov Battalion were receiving treatment in Israeli clinics. His events, however, rarely attract more than a dozen people.
Ex-mayor’s adviser, a Canadian registered at RT, and a former violinist
Belgium is represented in the tribunal by Valery Dvoynikov, the son of a well-known judoka champion of the USSR and Europe. Previously, the younger Dvoynikov worked as an adviser to the mayor of Liège, and in 2023, the newspaper La Meuse even named him its Person of the Year. However, the Belgium branch of Ukrainska Domivka activist group suspected the adviser of facilitating the acquisition of Schengen visas for wealthy Russians and succeeded in getting him dismissed.
Indeed, Dvoynikov is a frequent guest at the Russian embassy in Belgium. He collaborates with the Russkiy Mir (Russian World) Foundation and participates in roundtables with prominent pro-Kremlin propagandists. As his flight records show, in addition to Russia and Belarus, Dvoynikov visited occupied Luhansk in July 2022 — something Belgian authorities are apparently unaware of.
Eva Bartlett, a close acquaintance of Chairman Grigoryev, fled to Russia in 2019. She represents Canada in MOTPUNIP. During the Syrian civil war, the Canadian lavishly praised Bashar Assad’s dictatorial regime and gained notoriety for a video in which she claimed that the rescue operations of the White Helmets were staged.
The registered Moscow address of the “independent journalist and human rights defender,” as she calls herself, is the Russia Today office on Borovaya Street. The TV company also provides her with corporate cars.
The registered Moscow address of the “independent journalist and human rights defender,” as she calls herself, is the Russia Today office
France’s representative in the tribunal is Christelle Néant, a French-born Russian citizen. Néant created the pro-Kremlin project “Donbas Insider” and organizes trips for “friends of Moscow” to the territory of the unrecognized Donetsk and Luhansk “people's republics.”
Serbia is represented by Dragana Trifković, a member of the Friends of Crimea international association and an author for pro-government publications Izvestia and Regnum. Meanwhile, Cyprus is represented by Mikis Filaniоtis, Secretary General of the International Russophiles Movement, and Mali by Umar Sidibe, a resident of a student dormitory at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.
Indonesia’s representative on the tribunal, Fauzan Al-Rasyid, was a student at a Jakarta university when he performed the Russian WWII-era hit Katyusha on the violin while wearing a Russian military cap and sent the video to the Russian embassy. After a security check through intelligence service databases, Al-Rasyid was invited to fly to Moscow at the expense of the Russian budget to serve as an independent observer during the Russian presidential elections.
The Indonesian returned from the trip a completely different person: he abandoned his violin and began telling everyone what a wonderful president Putin is, that elections in Russia are fair, and that political repression and censorship in Russian media are all fabrications of Western propaganda. Al-Rasyid was employed by Russia Today, and Russia’s Foreign Ministry presents him with medals every year for fruitful cooperation. Unsurprisingly, Chairman Grigoryev has offered him a seat in the tribunal. The Insider sent Fauzan questions about his membership in the fake tribunal, but he did not respond.
