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The son of Russia’s former children’s rights commissioner was convicted of fraud, then decorated by Putin for wartime heroism. Now he faces fraud charges again.

Source: Kommersant

Anton Astakhov, the son of Pavel Astakhov, a lawyer and Russia’s former children’s rights commissioner, has been named in two criminal cases — one involving fraud, the other the illegal awarding of military decorations during the war.

The younger Astakhov was arrested on fraud charges back in April, but no details of the case were made public at the time. According to the Russian business daily Kommersant, investigators believe he and others named in the case stole money from a financial institution under the guise of issuing loans they knew would never be repaid. Astakhov’s lawyers say the charges stem from events in 2019 and 2020, when he was a shareholder in one of the banks involved.

Astakhov is a witness in the other case, which involves forgery of official documents in the illegal awarding of decorations to service members.

This is the second fraud case against him. In 2022, a court sentenced him to three and a half years on a similar charge.

According to Kommersant, Astakhov signed a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry in August 2023 and left to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine. He started out as an assault trooper and was later commissioned as an officer. During the war, he sustained a concussion and a minor wound. In 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded him the Suvorov Medal “for courage, heroism, and valor displayed in the performance of a combat mission.” He also received the Defender of the Kursk Region medal and an award from the Akhmat special forces.

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