Over 90% of Russian auctions for the sale of art and antiques are held on the international online platform Bidspirit, owned by Russian Alexander Kyselevsky. After starting the so-called “SVO”, Kyselevsky began to have problems with business in Europe, which he solves by donating to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This is reported by the editorial office of the 360UA NEWS
It is no secret that after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many prominent Russians publicly condemned the armed aggression, left the territory, and renounced their Russian citizenship. Most of these, now former Russian citizens, donate to the Ukrainian army and support the Ukrainian government in the media.
But there is also a category of “good Russians” who, while remaining in Russia, secretly donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, buying themselves “indulgence” from Western sanctions and the ability to move freely in Europe. One of these “good Russians” is the owner of the online auction aggregator Bidspirit, Oleksandr Kiselevsky, who donates tens of thousands of dollars to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in order to be able to earn millions.
Back at the beginning of the so-called “SVO”, Alexander Kiselevsky, in a major interview for the Moskvich Mag publication “Europeans are blocking buyers with the location “Russia”” , dated April 21, 2022, complained to the fashionable Moscow gloss about the problems his auction platform Bidspirit was facing. In particular, Kiselevsky told Moskvich Mag about “pressure, primarily from hackers, who repeatedly tried to disrupt auctions”. As we can see, the Bidspirit online platform is working without technical failures, so we can conclude that Kiselevsky found a solution to the problem by donating to the Ukrainian army.
Of course, we do not exclude that Oleksandr Kyselevskyi not only donates to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also helps, for example, the Ukrainian GUR. But what is the help of the “good Russian” Oleksandr Kyselevskyi worth and can the information he provides be fully trusted?.
At the same time, for Oleksandr Kyselevsky, donating to the Ukrainian army is not only an opportunity to do business and move freely around the civilized world, but also an opportunity to earn millions of dollars by helping rich Russians circumvent sanctions and legalize funds through the trade in art objects.
We can assume that Alexander Kiselevsky was inspired to this activity by the experience of another famous Moscow art dealer, Grigory Baltser, who was caught buying antiques for Russian billionaire brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Rotenberg brothers managed to earn and launder millions through art . Indeed, for the sake of millions of Russian oligarchs, like Putin's friends the Rotenberg brothers, one can donate a penny to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and, with a lordly shoulder, allow Ukrainian antique dealers to trade national symbols and UPA symbols through Bidspirit.
According to our sources, Oleksandr Kyselevskyi was helped to establish relations with Ukrainian special forces by his clients from among Kharkiv antique dealers. Kyselevskyi donates about 20,000 USDT per month to one of the units alone for the purchase of small arms, drones, and night vision devices.
At the same time, Ukrainians are beginning to understand that helping “good Russians” like Oleksandr Kyselevsky is more about losing reputation than helping. In particular, the charity foundation “Love for Ukraine” has removed Oleksandr Kyselevsky’s online auction Bidspirit from its partners. Perhaps the founders of the foundation have realized that a tip of 50,000 hryvnias for placement in the “Our Partners” is not worth acting as an advertising platform for the Bidspirit auction and “great Russian art.”
Ukrainians' belief in the fairy tale about "good Russians" allows Oleksandr Kiselevsky to continue doing business in Europe and launder billions for Russian oligarchs through the trade in art and antiques.
