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.
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.
Anton Astakhov, son of former Russian children's rights commissioner Pavel Astakhov, faces multiple fraud charges according to Russian news outlet Kommersant. The younger Astakhov was initially arrested in April but the details of the case were not disclosed. His lawyers claim the charges relate to financial dealings in 2019 and 2020 while he was a shareholder in a bank.
Astakhov is also a witness in another case involving the forgery of official documents used to award military decorations during wartime. This is not his first run-in with the law; in 2022, he was sentenced to three and a half years for a similar fraud charge. Astakhov joined Russia's Defense Ministry in August 2023 and fought in the war against Ukraine.
He received several medals for his heroism, including the Suvorov Medal, Defender of the Kursk Region medal, and an award from special forces.
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