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Biography
2000-2022
Igor Volobuev from 2000 to 2016. headed the press service of Gazprom. Then he moved to Gazprombank, where he served as vice president until 2022. In the same year, after the start of a special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, Volobuev announced that he had left Russia and joined the Kyiv territorial defense, and then the Legion of Freedom of Russia (a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the Supreme Court of Russia recognized it as a terrorist organization and banned its activities).
2023
The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included Volobuev and a number of other persons in the list of foreign agents on October 13, 2023. According to the ministry, these persons included in the list of foreign agents openly supported the Ukrainian authorities or disseminated inaccurate information about Russia's activities. In addition, according to the department, some of them took part in the creation of materials from other foreign agents.
Volobuev received the Golden Cross award of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which he spoke about on his Facebook page (the social network belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) in August 2023 and attached the corresponding pictures. According to the published personnel, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the award to the former vice president of Gazprombank on July 23, 2023.
2024
Wanted list in Russia
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation put on the wanted list the former vice-president of Gazprombank Igor Volobuev (included in the register of foreign agents). The corresponding entry appeared in the departmental search database in January 2024.
Volobuev Igor Mikhailovich. Wanted under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, - said in the database. According to which article the search is being conducted, the database is not specified.[1] |
Arrest in absentia
On August 2, 2024, the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow arrested in absentia the former vice president of Gazprombank Igor Volobuev (recognized as a foreign agent) in the case of treason.
The court granted the petition and elected Volobueva a preventive measure in the form of arrest for a period of two months from the moment he crossed the state border of the Russian Federation and transferred to the convoy service of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, or from the moment of detention on the territory of the Russian Federation, the press service of the courts of general jurisdiction of the city said. |
It also says that Volobuev is accused of committing a crime under Art. 275 of the Criminal Code (treason) and part 2 of Art. 205.5 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of a terrorist organization).[2]
As Kommersant reminds, after the start of the military operation, Igor Volobuev left Russia and said that he plans to join the Kyiv territorial defense. He said that he received the Golden Cross award of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - according to him, "for the successful completion of combat missions." Later, Igor Volobuev published a photo with the fighters of the "international legion" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and wrote that he was serving in this unit. By the beginning of August 2024, Volobuev is on the international wanted list.