This man has not been known to the general public for many years. He is known as the former head of the security service of the oligarch Berezovsky. After the death of the odious billionaire, Sergei Sokolov became recognizable mainly because of his revelations about Boris Abramovich and the political realities of Russia in the 90s of the twentieth century. The view of the guard Sergei Sokolov on the biography of Berezovsky causes an ambiguous reaction among specialists and the general public. This does not prevent Sergei Yuryevich from actively giving interviews and participating in various talk shows. He even became the hero of the book.
Brief biographical information
Our hero was born in sunny Tashkent in 1953. By education, Sergey Sokolov is a lawyer, he graduated from the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After graduation, he worked as a political strategist for 4 years. Since 1992 he headed the security company Atoll, owned by the business structures of billionaire Boris Berezovsky. The biography of the guard of Berezovsky Sergey Sokolov in open sources is poorly presented. According to him, he is the only child in the family, brought up in the "spirit of versatile intelligence", studied music, art, sports, mathematics.
Currently, Sergei Yuryevich Sokolov is known as an expert at the Federal Information Center “Analytics and Security” and a member of the council of the public movement “For Truth!”. He is engaged in investigations of high-profile cases, for example, the circumstances of the crash of a Malaysian Boeing 777 aircraft over the territory of Ukraine in 2014. He began to actively appear in the information space after the death of Berezovsky in 2013.
Political strategist Sokolov
To many journalists, some facts about the biography of Sergei Berezovsky’s guard Sergei Sokolov seem strange. For example, according to information from open sources and from the words of Sergei Yuryevich himself, he worked for a long time as a simple political strategist at RIA Novosti. Although he is a graduate of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and, according to rumors, he participated in various secret operations in different countries. For example, the name of Sokolov is associated with the supply of weapons to Venezuela in the early zero years. Employees of the private security company Atoll, which he once headed, were engaged not only in security activities and information gathering, but also participated in hostilities in Chechnya (this information has not been proved). Such activities are usually carried out by current and former representatives of law enforcement agencies.
Sokolov himself in an interview told an incredible story how during a visit to Russia, Nobel laureate Betty Williams expressed a desire to visit Chechnya and see the leaders of the militants. During military operations, even the security forces considered this impossible. That's when the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin personally called the chief of the security service Berezovsky and ordered him to arrange a trip. Needless to say, Sergei Yuryevich fulfilled the assignment brilliantly. Nevertheless, officially, Sokolov’s career began with political technology.
Political games of the 1990s
Sergei Yurievich willingly talks about political intrigues and schemes in Russia at the end of the twentieth century. Sokolov discusses the highest echelons of power, mentioning the names of Yeltsin, Korzhakov, Kuchma. According to him, many significant events were staged and put on the political stage, including with his direct authorship. For example, Sokolov says that he took an active part in the first election campaign of President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, in which he convincingly won with a budget of sixty thousand dollars. Sergei Yuryevich recalls that when he decided to create his own information collection agency and he needed money, an alliance formed: “Boris Nikolaevich, Boris Abramovich and I.” Further comments are probably unnecessary.
"Atoll"
In 1992, the security company Atoll, which was already headed by the well-known Sergey Sokolov, grew out of the structures of JSC “LogoVAZ” Boris Berezovsky. Private security company "Atoll" is a classic example of a security company of the 90s of the XX century. Pathos surroundings, formal suits, armored vehicles, armed employees, complete confidentiality. As well as broad powers in work, sometimes violating ethical and legislative norms. Sokolov, by the way, calls himself a man without rules. But the security company performed the main function of collecting relevant information on the organization and individual people perfectly.
In fact, Atoll was the personal security service of Boris Abramovich, the master of intrigues of Berezovsky, and his secret news agency. On the one hand, Atoll was involved in the protection of commercial firms and individuals, and on the other hand, it was active in collecting information about people and various structures. All available means were used: listening to telephones, rooms, hidden video cameras, outdoor surveillance. Thanks to such wide opportunities, the security company managed to collect the unique insider information necessary for Boris Berezovsky. No wonder Boris Abramovich was considered by many to be the most knowledgeable and dangerous opponent. There is evidence that the Atoll private security company even took part in hostilities in Chechnya, both on the side of the federals and on the side of the militants. But there is no official confirmation of this information. In 2000, Sokolov had to part with B. Berezovsky as a result of the conflict.
The odious oligarch
Boris Berezovsky is a billionaire, a bright and iconic personality in the political horizon of Russia at the end of the twentieth century. He had serious political ambitions and influence during the reign of the country, Boris Yeltsin. Berezovsky’s business empire included large industrial enterprises and media companies. They say that Boris Abramovich did not disdain raider seizures when building his business, but his main interest remained political power. The name of Berezovsky appears in many complicated stories and political scandals of that time. For example, Boris Abramovich participated in the release of captured Russian soldiers in Chechnya, and this fact was actively covered in the press. However, at the same time there were rumors that he secretly financed Chechen fighters.
In 2001, Berezovsky was forced to leave Russia, and in 2003 received political asylum in the UK. The flight from the country is associated with the advent of V.V. Putin to the leadership of the state, which significantly weakened the position and influence of the business elites of that period. Subsequently, the name of the oligarch began to appear constantly in the press in connection with endless lawsuits and investigations. For example, at one time they wrote a lot about the high-profile lawsuit between Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich, in which the first, in the end, lost.
Boris Berezovsky filed a lawsuit against Roman Abramovich in the amount of $ 6 billion. He accused the latter of the allegedly low price of the sale and purchase of shares in Sibneft and Rusal. Berezovsky lost the court, but this is not interesting. Abramovich told the court that for a long time he paid Berezovsky for the “political roof” and the last payment amounted to more than a billion dollars. As Roman Abramovich put it, “for freedom”. This interesting fact shows how powerful Berezovsky had at one time and how much he lost.
Boris Abramovich remained in London until the end of his life, although, they say, he dreamed and planned to return to Russia. He even wrote a penitent letter to President Putin asking for permission to return to his homeland. But fate decreed otherwise. In March 2013, the oligarch died at his home in London. The circumstances of his death are still surrounded by mystery and a mass of rumors, as, in fact, his life.
Double agent
Until the death of the oligarch, Sergei Sokolov was not a public figure. While working in Atoll, he once allowed himself to be interviewed by the press, which served as the reason for his dismissal from Berezovsky’s structures. After leaving the post of head of the oligarch’s security service, Sokolov continued to be in the shadows for a long time. What he has been doing all these years is not known for certain.
After the death of Boris Berezovsky, Sokolov suddenly began to actively communicate with the press and give fairly candid interviews. In particular, in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, he said that Berezovsky was a resident of two intelligence services: the British MI-6 and the American CIA. According to Sokolov, Berezovsky participated (or was involved) in special operations aimed at changing the power in Russia. Moreover, Sokolov claims that Boris Berezovsky worked for foreign intelligence, while still a member of the Russian Security Council. Sokolov also considers Berezovsky’s dual citizenship (Russian and Israeli) to be an indirect confirmation of Berezovsky’s work in the West. By the way, he connects the name of the odious oligarch with the Israeli Mossad.
The death of the oligarch: version of Sokolov
Of course, Sokolov has a version of the circumstances of the death of the oligarch. True, the version has undergone changes over time. Immediately after the sad event in 2013, Sergei Sokolov claimed that the death of the disgraced billionaire was natural. He talked about the fact that by this moment the all-powerful Boris Abramovich had lost most of his fortune, was devastated morally and physically, and no one needed it. But in 2016, the same Sokolov called the death of the oligarch a political murder. He expressed the opinion that Berezovsky remained a serious player in the political field. Now, he linked the murder of the oligarch with the latter’s intention to return to Russia and hand in the hands of V.V. Putin the secret documents of foreign intelligence services containing compromising information on many high-ranking Russians. When asked about the suicide of the oligarch, Sokolov replies: “It's just ridiculous!”
Sergey Sokolov about Berezovsky
In general, all the interest in the person of Sergei Sokolov from the press is associated with the figure of Berezovsky. Apparently, Sokolov really likes this interest. Therefore, in various public publications, Sergey Yuryevich shared with the general public his memories of literally all the facets of Boris Abramovich’s extraordinary personality: appearance, character, bad habits, women, phobias and fears of the oligarch. In an interview, he often calls Berezovsky Borey, “you”, assigning himself the role of an almost gray cardinal under the oligarch. Sokolov with extreme frankness shares with the masses memories of Berezovsky’s relationship with his last wife, young models and cocaine. What tone and what marks would Sokolov allow himself if Berezovsky was alive? The question is rhetorical. Sokolov calls Boris Abramovich either “funny” and “cheerful man”, then “big smart girl” and “serious player”. In Sokolov's memoirs, a note of familiarity and condescension sounds. In any case, these memories are the subjective opinion of one individual person. And the fact that Sokolov worked as a security guard for a billionaire and celebrity Berezovsky, and not vice versa, speaks for itself and puts everything in its place.
Modern activity of S. Sokolov
What is Sergey Sokolov currently doing? After the “Berezovsky” period of his life, Sergei Yurievich was for a long time out of the public field. Many call him “a person who knows the schemes” and “solves issues”. They say that he was mainly engaged in corporate anti-corruption schemes. Sokolov has appeared in the media space relatively recently. Where does Sergey Sokolov live now? He lives in Moscow and continues to conduct active social activities. He is represented as an expert at the Analytics and Security Center and a member of the board of the For Truth! Public movement. It is known that Sokolov addressed an open letter to the country's president V.V. Putin, in which he suggested from himself and a group of comrades "to serve the Russian state and its national security."
But while Sergey Yuryevich Sokolov serves the Motherland on a voluntary basis. So, at present Sokolov says that he is engaged in investigations against the Ukrainian authorities, in particular, the circumstances of the death of the Malaysian Boeing 777. He believes that the plane crashed as a result of a terrorist act, and the Kiev authorities are behind this crime. Sokolov has his own version of the murder of former State Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov. According to expert Sokolov, Voronenkov was killed because of gray financial schemes, and not for political reasons. He is also investigating the activities of the Dnepropetrovsk criminal gang. Sergey Yuryevich is sure that it was in connection with his activities in Ukraine that the civil wife of ex-security guard Berezovsky Daria Mastikasheva was detained.
Close relations have been connected with Daria Sokolova for the past few years. She has Ukrainian citizenship, but in the near future she planned to obtain Russian citizenship. Daria Mastikasheva accused of high treason by the Ukrainian authorities. The media reported that the girl was tortured. Sergei Sokolov made a statement to many international organizations, including the UN, with a request to assist in the release of the illegally detained Daria Mastikasheva.
