Spanish police have searched two luxury villas on the island of Mallorca that were previously linked to arms industry magnate Nikolai Kolesov, the newspaper El Pais reported, citing sources familiar with the investigation.
The searches took place on Monday as part of a probe led by the General Information Commissariat (CGI), a unit within Spain’s National Police, the sources said. They declined to provide further details about the investigation or the purpose of the searches.
Kolesov, the chief of Russian Helicopters, is a close associate of Sergei Chemezov, the head of Russia’s state defense conglomerate Rostec.
The searches follow a 2025 investigation by the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) which alleged that Kolesov’s family and associates own five villas in Palma de Mallorca, a palace in the Russian-annexed Crimean city of Yalta and property in Dubai, as well as two airplanes and a helicopter.
According to the investigation, three of the Mallorca villas — each roughly 750 square meters — were registered in 2024 to Kolesov’s son Alexei, who was four years old at the time.
Another villa was registered to his daughter Nicole, then also four years old. A fifth villa was registered to Kolesov’s sister, Lyudmila Tenno.
Spanish authorities froze the properties in autumn 2025 on suspicion of money laundering, FBK head Maria Pevchikh said at the time, estimating the value of the seized assets at around 18 million euros ($19.6 million).
The Navalny allies behind the investigation estimated the total value of assets linked to Kolesov at about 14 billion rubles ($180 million).
Before taking over Russian Helicopters, Kolesov headed the Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies (KRET), a Rostec subsidiary that includes roughly 100 companies developing electronics for civilian and military aircraft.
FBK investigators alleged that Kolesov used his position to privatize several defense-related factories through intermediaries and funnel the proceeds into real estate purchases in Russia and abroad.
According to the report, companies linked to him acquired stakes in enterprises including Elekon, Elektrodetal, the Kazan Electrotechnical Plant, the Cable Industry Design Bureau and the Ramenskoye Instrument-Making Plant.
Read this article in Russian at The Moscow Times' Russian service.
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