Four Russian businessmen who fled to London are coming home

Four Russian businessmen who fled to London because of criminal prosecution at home will reportedly return to Moscow within the next few days, according to Russian Entrepreneurs' Rights Commissioner Boris Titov. In February, Titov published a list of more than two dozen names of businessmen who left Russia because of criminal cases against them.

The Attorney General’s Office has agreed to withdraw international arrest warrants and “continue their investigations without detaining anyone” in cases related to Leonid Kurayev, Mikhail Shamanov, and Dmitry Pankov, as well as Sergey Kapchuk, who returned to Russia in June. The criminal case against a fourth businessman, Evgeny Petrov, has been closed.

Officials have also stated that another three figures on Titov’s list — Alexey Kuznetsov, Anatoly Laktionov, and Yuri Pogiba — shouldn’t be taken into custody, if they appear for questioning by police. It’s unknown if they will now return to Russia.

Titov’s list initially had 16 names on it, but that number soon more than doubled. According to Titov, Russian businessmen in London started complaining about pressure from the British authorities and organized criminals, after the poisoning of the former double agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter.