Vienna, April 6, 2026 \u2013 A Russian governor was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony this week. Alexey Smirnov, former head of the Kursk region, had accepted bribes from construction companies, including for defense facilities on the border with Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The case is symptomatic. Corruption is not a marginal phenomenon of the Russian system \u2013 it is its foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Money without borders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2022, the EU has imposed sanctions against Russian oligarchs and state-owned companies. Yachts have been seized and accounts frozen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the money finds its ways. Through shell companies in Cyprus, Malta, Luxembourg. Through real estate in Vienna, Berlin, London. Through cryptocurrencies and intermediaries in Dubai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n European banks have welcomed Russian capital for decades. The change of course Austria in Focus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Vienna was long known as the \u201eEast-West hub\u201c \u2013 also for money. Austrian banks had How much Russian capital still flows through Austrian structures is a question that YANUS will continue to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Two Sides of Power<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sanctions are one thing. Enforcement is another. As long as European financial centers profit, sanctions are more symbol than substance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the start of a YANUS investigative series about Russian money in Europe. We accept tips and documents at: redaktion@yanus.at<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Russia bombs Ukraine, billions flow through European financial centers. A trace investigation. Vienna, April 6, 2026 \u2013 A Russian governor<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\nMehr lesen: {url}\n\n{tags}\n#YANUS","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[49],"tags":[59,54,60],"class_list":["post-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ukraine-osteuropa","tag-corruption","tag-europa","tag-russia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-6266687-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2577,"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions\/2577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"WP","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
since 2022 it's real \u2013 but incomplete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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above-average strong connections to Russian financial structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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