Key FSB officer in Meduza's Moscow funeral industry investigation is reportedly reassigned

Moscow FSB Lieutenant Colonel Marat Medoev has been reassigned to Gazprom’s security service, two insider sources told the BBC Russian Service. Sources close to the Federal Security Service previously told the website RBC that Medoev was fired roughly a month ago, but the BBC’s sources say he’s still an officer with the capital’s FSB office, and is now posted as a field agent at Gazprom. 

Marat Medoev was one of the key figures identified in a Meduza investigative report by Ivan Golunov, who discovered that Moscow’s FSB leadership is closely linked to the “Ritual” municipal mortuary, which has a near monopoly on Moscow’s funeral industry. The Medoev family has especially close ties to the family of Valerian Mazaraki, Ritual’s deputy director.

In June 2019, police arrested Ivan Golunov on suspicion of possession of illegal narcotics with intent to distribute. Golunov argued that the officers planted the drugs, and linked the criminal case directly to his investigative reporting on the FSB’s ties to the funeral business. After several days in jail and then house arrest, Golunov was released, and the case against him was soon closed.