Talk:Andrey Yakunin

Suggested edits

Dear editors, I am submitting suggested edits for this page, including citations. These are updates to the court case that have not been addressed by the article yet. For your consideration.

−

==Arrest in Norway==Yakunin was arrested in Norway 17. October 2022 charged with illegally flying a drone in Norwegian airspace. All Russian citizens were forbidden to operate any kind of drone from 28 February 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

+

=Norway Drone Case== In 2019, Andrey Yakunin purchased Firebird, an 27M Oyster style yacht, with the intention of exploring the Arctic and Antarctic Circles on sailing expeditions . On October 17, 2022, Yakunin was arrested in Norway during a sailing trip in Svalbard , and charged with illegally flying a recreational drone . According to the prosecution, at the time of the arrest Russian citizens were forbidden to operate any kind of drone from in Norwegian airspace, regardless of their place of residence or other citizenship status, as a result of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in February 2022 .Yakunin was acquitted by both the District Court and the Court of Appeal. When the case was presented in the Supreme Court in 2023, the district court's acquittal was overturned , suggesting that a hobby drone should be considered an aircraft for sanctions regulations.The case was presented again in the District Court in 2024, where Yakunin was acquitted once more. The prosecution appealed the verdict again, but this time, the Court of Appeal refused the prosecution's appeal. Andrey Yakunin was thus acquitted of all the charges , and awarded 2.7 million Norwegian kroner (€228,764) in compensation . Andrey Yakunin is not under any sanctions .

Victoria81U (talk) 07:28, 9 January 2026 (UTC)

I have implemented this, but with editing and several secondary sources. Fiske (talk) 17:59, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

Sources

Done Fiske (talk) 17:58, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

Additional suggested edits

Dear editors, please see some additional edit requests below for your consideration. Please do ping me for any questions of clarifications!

−

Andrey Yakunin (Андрей Владимирович Якунин) (born 1975) is a Russian businessman. He is the eldest son of Vladimir Yakunin, the former head of Russian Railways and a close Vladimir Putin associate.

+

Andrey Yakunin (Андрей Владимирович Якунин) (born 1975) is a Russian-British businessman. He is the eldest son of Vladimir Yakunin, the former CEO and president of Russian Railways (2005-2015).

Victoria81U (talk) 16:37, 2 February 2026 (UTC)

Partly done: Typically, content removal isn't permitted (the portion about Putin). However since it's unsourced and potentially libelous or defamatory, I don't see a problem with removing it. Since you haven't provided a source for the years he was CEO/President I haven't included that info. Feel free to let me know if you have a source for that info and I'll add it. - Otherwise (Talk?) 00:15, 3 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for this, not sure why my citations weren't there, but this source clearly says "Yakunin worked as the president of Russian Railways for 10 years before retiring in 2015" https://www.dw.com/en/sanctioned-putin-ally-vladimir-yakunin-granted-german-visa/a-45162025

This one also says he had been president since 2005 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/08/25/yakunin-gets-3-more-years-as-russian-railways-chief-a38709

I hope that's sufficient, thanks again @MustbeotherwiseMustbeotherwise

Victoria81U (talk) 06:46, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

Don't mind me, just adding a {{reflist-talk-collapsed}} template to the bottom of this section ―Tosca-the-engineer (talk) 12:30, 19 April 2026 (UTC)

Hi! I see the bit about Yakunin Sr. has been added back in - there is still no source for it and it's still libelous. I could not find a reliable source for this claim anywhere. Would it be ok to remove it please? Victoria81U (talk) 15:32, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

Not done: The proposed changes are removing content that is well-cited or where sources exist.

I suspected this might happen, so I made sure to to put quotes in the citations.

He is the eldest son of Vladimir Yakunin, a close associate of Vladimir Putin and the former head of Russian Railways.

―Tosca-the-engineer (talk) 15:46, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

I feel like I should have made my point clearer here, so here goes: Andrey Yakunin has publicly opposed Russian aggression in Ukraine and condemned it on record on several occasions. His father's former association is used here in what feels like an intentionally malicious way. He is not his father. To suggest a solution here, I would argue that if his father's association is mentioned, so should his own opposition to the war - in the same section. Additionally, I would suggest less inflammatory language be used. I appreciate your time and consideration, thank you. Victoria81U (talk) 19:35, 26 April 2026 (UTC)

You're right, I misunderstood your concerns. For what it's worth, mentioning his father's links to Putin wasn't done with any intentional malice on my part; my intention was to convey "probably grew up (relatively) wealthy and privileged", not "probably a Putin associate too".

How about this:

Andrey Vladimirovich Yakunin (Russian: Андрей Владимирович Якунин) (born 1975) is a Russian-British businessman. He is the eldest son of Vladimir Yakunin, the former head of Russian Railways. Despite his father's links to Putin, Andrey applied for British citizenship in 2015 and has publicly expressed his "strong opposition" to Russia's 2022 invasion and occupation of Ukraine multiple times.

I phrased it as "applied for British citizenship" (instead of "gained"/"was granted" etc.) to make it clearer that the intended meaning is that he applied for citizenship despite his father's ties, not that he was granted citizenship despite his father's ties. ―Tosca-the-engineer (talk) 13:44, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

Thank you! I agree and appreciate your assistance here. I do feel like the the current phrasing may unintentionally imply a connection between his father’s associations and his citizenship. It might be clearer to separate these points to avoid that implication. In addition, he actually received his citizenship in 2015 rather than applied for it then, the process takes years to complete. How about this: "Despite his father's links to Putin, Andrey has publicly expressed his "strong opposition" to Russia's 2022 invasion and occupation of Ukraine multiple times. Andrey received his British citizenship in 2015, after moving to the UK in 2007".

Thanks again! Victoria81U (talk) 18:31, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

Done

Regarding citizenship, the process takes years to complete is one of those "yes, but also no" statements. In general, a person needs to have indefinite leave to remain (ILTR) before they are eligible for citizenship, and to be eligible for ILTR status a person usually needs to have lived in the UK for 5 years. (The steps are something like: get work visa → live in UK for 5 years → apply for ILTR → receive ILTR → live in UK for 12 more months → apply for citizenship → receive approval → attend citizenship ceremony.) But the waiting period between applying for citizenship and being granted citizenship is rarely longer than 6 months. ―Tosca-the-engineer (talk) 05:45, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

Sources

Additional requested edits part 2

Hi again, I noticed that inserting two requests in one topic made a mess of the format, so I split my request into two parts! Here's part 2.

−

His mother is Natalya. Andrey has a brother, Viktor Yakunin.Andrey Yakunin lives in Hampstead, north London, where his son, Igor, attended the exclusive Highgate School and is now studying medicine at the University of Cambridge.==Education==Yakunin holds a PhD in Finance and Credit from St. Petersburg State University, an MA degree in Economics and Mathematics, and EMBA Global from London Business School and Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He is an associate professor of economics at the St Petersburg State University.

+

(Section title) Early life and Education: Andrey Yakunin is the eldest son of Vladimir and Natalya, and has one brother, Viktor Yakunin. He was born in Saint Petersburg, and then emigrated to the US in 1985. Yakunin grew up in New York, NY where his father was working at the Soviet Mission and the United Nations that he combined with his activities as a Soviet Intelligence officer . Returning to Russia with his family in 1991 , Yakunin studied Mathematical Methods in Economics at the St. Petersburg State University, graduating in 1997 He previously served as an associate professor of economics at the St Petersburg State University.. He went on to earn his PhD in credit and finance from the same university in 2001 . Yakunin co-founded the St. Petersburg State University Alumni Association in 2014 and served as its president until 2020 . In 2022, he publicly resigned from the Association's advisory board alongside other alumni following the university's rector Nikolay Kropachev’s public endorsement and support of Russian invasion of Ukraine . Andrey Yakunin also holds a joint MBA from [[London Business School]] and [[Columbia University]].

Victoria81U (talk) 17:20, 2 February 2026 (UTC)

Could you please add inline citations? - Otherwise (Talk?) 00:16, 3 February 2026 (UTC)

Hi friend, the citations are inline - I just used the code/template - let me try and insert them in a different way that might be clearer. Victoria81U (talk) 06:48, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

Is this better?

(Section title) Early life and Education: Andrey Yakunin is the eldest son of Vladimir and Natalya, and has one brother, Viktor Yakunin. He was born in Saint Petersburg, and then emigrated to the US in 1985. Yakunin grew up in New York, NY where his father was working at the Soviet Mission and the United Nations that he combined with his activities as a Soviet Intelligence officer . Returning to Russia with his family in 1991 , Yakunin studied Mathematical Methods in Economics at the St. Petersburg State University, graduating in 1997 He is an associate professor of economics at the St Petersburg State University.. He went on to earn his PhD in credit and finance from the same university in 2001 . Yakunin co-founded the St. Petersburg State University Alumni Association in 2014 and served as its president until 2020 . In 2022, he publicly resigned from the Association's advisory board alongside other alumni following the university's rector Nikolay Kropachev’s public endorsement and support of Russian invasion of Ukraine . Andrey Yakunin also holds a joint MBA from London Business School and Columbia University.

@Mustbeotherwise Victoria81U (talk) 06:50, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

The {{textdiff}} template doesn't handle inline citations very well. One workaround is to put the content between <nowiki></nowiki> tags. For example, this:

{{text diff|
<nowiki>Old version of the text.<ref>{{cite web |url=www.example.com |title=Old Citation}}</ref></nowiki>
|
<nowiki>New version of the text.<ref>{{cite web |url=www.example2.com |title=New Citation}}</ref></nowiki>
}}

produces this:

−

Old version of the text.<ref>{{cite web |url=www.example.com |title=Old Citation}}</ref>

+

New version of the text.<ref>{{cite web |url=www.example2.com |title=New Citation}}</ref>

The list of citations will appear at the very bottom of a page unless an appropriate template is added higher up. For talk pages, {{reflist-talk}}, {{reflist-talk-collapsed}}, or one of their shortcuts can be used to display citations. I have added {{reflist-talk-collapsed}} to the bottom of this section. ―Tosca-the-engineer (talk) 11:43, 19 April 2026 (UTC)

Hey, thanks! Do I need to re-submit this? Or is it usable the way it is now? Thank you! Victoria81U (talk) 15:30, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

I think it's usable the way it currently is.

Side note: Although Edit COI/doc#How to use suggests using the {{text diff}} template, the monospaced font isn't great for large amounts of text. Using block quotes (e.g. the {{blockquote}} template) makes a request easier to read, and doesn't have the problem with displaying inline citations. If you like, I can convert your post/request below (#Last request for updates) into one that uses block quotes? ―Tosca-the-engineer (talk) 05:46, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Yes, please. I would appreciate that. Thank you! Victoria81U (talk) 19:35, 26 April 2026 (UTC)

Sources

Done I have made this change, with some edits to stay within what reliable sources support. Fiske (talk) 12:11, 14 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi! First of all thank you for this, much appreciated! I did notice something that seemed out of order - it says:

"Yakunin's family moved to New York, NY in 1985. After returning to Russia with his family in 1991, There, his father worked at the Soviet Mission and the United Nations that he combined with his activities as a Soviet Intelligence officer".

That phrasing reads a little clunky, it might be better to rejig the sentence like: "Yakunin's family moved to New York, NY in 1985. There, his father worked at the Soviet Mission and the United Nations that he combined with his activities as a Soviet Intelligence officer"

And then "After returning to Russia with his family in 1991..."

I hope that makes sense. Thank you again! Victoria81U (talk) 15:22, 24 May 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, yes, that phrase was inserted at the wrong place! Now fixed. Fiske (talk) 17:59, 22 June 2026 (UTC)

Last request for updates

I have a couple more edit requests for your consideration, I will add them both as a template and as a visual edit for easier access.

Before:

Yakunin runs VIY Management, a private equity and real estate investment company which he founded in 2006 with British, Israeli-born, investor Yair Ziv. The company facilitates foreign investment in Russia and is pursuing a plan to build hotels in Russia. Yakunin is also participating via VIYM in the construction of houses in St. Petersburg and in 2014 acquired Russian chocolatier French Kiss. Yakunin is the chairman of the National Alternative Investment Management Association (NAIMA) in Russia. He has British citizenship and citizenship of the Russian Federation.

After:

Yakunin founded private equity and real estate investment company VIY Management, in 2006 along with British-Israeli investor Yair Ziv. The company and Yakunin himself pulled all investments from Russia in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine .

In March 2022 Yakunin made a public comment on the Wall Street Journal, maintaining that he has never supported Putin . He later reiterated this point in a TV interview with Italian news channel La7 . He has expressed his opposition to the Ukraine invasion on multiple occasions . VIYM’s key assets Four Season Hotel in St Petersburg and Nikolsky Ryady Development were reportedly sold in 2024 and 2025, respectively. VIYM is an authorized Alternative Investment Fund Manager regulated in Luxembourg and dedicated to private equity services for international investors seeking investment consulting, deal origination and asset management. Yakunin was also the Chairman of The Board Of Directors of Antognolla Resort & Residences, a 12th century castle and estate concept, situated in Umbria, Italy. The resort is meant to be operated by the premium luxury hotel brand Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, and was sold in October 2025 to investor Mohamed Alabbar VIYM’s portfolio included development projects in St. Petersburg and the 2014 acquisition of Russian chocolatier French Kiss, which was sold in 2022 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Yakunin#cite_note-7 [existing source]. The firm also acquired a controlling stake in the agro-industrial group Agro-Alliance, a rice importer and trader, in 2010, which it divested in 2015. From 2013 to 2018 Yakunin was the chairman of the National Alternative Investment Management Association (NAIMA) in Russia.[2 existing source]

He has dual British and Russian citizenship .

Victoria81U (talk) 07:53, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

References

Done I have made some edits for tone, but otherwise the request is done. Fiske (talk) 23:00, 11 May 2026 (UTC)