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The consultation is free when an engagement is signed: if you entrust the matter to us, the first meeting costs nothing. At it we go through the situation and tell you whether the matter has prospects in court, what scenarios are available and roughly what running the case will cost. This information does not constitute a public offer (art. 437(1) of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Do you guarantee the outcome of a case?

No, and nobody can: the outcome of litigation is decided by the court. We are answerable for the quality of our work, for the pace and for making sure you always know what stage the matter is at. You receive our assessment of the prospects before the engagement is signed.

Who will handle my matter?

Every matter has a responsible partner. He assembles the team for the task — a litigator, a tax specialist, a valuer — and remains your point of contact until the end. Where the task requires the status of an advocate, advocates of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association are brought in under a cooperation agreement.

Do you work with the regions?

Yes. We have two offices — in Moscow and Mariupol — and we run matters throughout Russia. The engagement can be signed remotely, documents are accepted electronically, and we stay in touch by telephone, messenger and e-mail.

How do the firm's lawyers and the advocates work together?

Legal review, transaction support, insolvency and representation in commercial and civil proceedings are carried out by the lawyers of Kovalev & Partners LLC under an engagement with the company. Tasks that require the status of an advocate — criminal defence, attendance at searches and interviews, an advocate's formal request — are carried out by advocates of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association: the company has a cooperation agreement with the Bar Association, while the agreement on the provision of legal assistance is made by the client directly with the advocate (art. 25(1) of Federal Law No. 63-FZ of 31 May 2002 “On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation”). For you this is a single point of entry: we assemble the team.

What happens after I send an enquiry?

We read your description of the situation and come back within one working day: we ask clarifying questions and tell you what we can realistically do. We do not pass your documents or your description of the situation to anyone.

CASE / CRIMINAL DEFENCE

The Tushite Svet case: defence against a charge of extorting RUB 11 million from the head of Rostec

One of the most high-profile media criminal cases of 2022–2024: the former editor-in-chief of Tatler, a journalist and Ksenia Sobchak’s commercial director were accused of extorting RUB 11 million from Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov. Two of the three defendants were represented by attorneys Dmitry Malyutov and Kristina Tsypkalo the case team was led by Vladimir Kovalev, founder and managing partner of Kovalev & Partners LLC.

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The situation

In autumn 2022 a criminal case was opened in Moscow that the whole country followed. According to the investigation, the former editor-in-chief of Tatler Arian Romanovsky (Kuzmin by passport), journalist Tamerlan Bigaev and Kirill Sukhanov, commercial director of Ksenia Sobchak’s media holding, demanded RUB 11 million from Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov for removing posts from the Telegram channel Tushite Svet and for a “block” on further material. The charge was brought under article 163(3)(b) of the Criminal Code, extortion on an especially large scale, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Sukhanov and Romanovsky were detained in October 2022, Bigaev in November. All three were remanded in custody. The case was public from day one: federal media covered it, Ksenia Sobchak came to court, cameras followed every hearing. For the defence that meant a double load: working on the substance of the charge while holding the clients’ position in an information space where every word from counsel became the next day’s headline.

The defence team

Arian Romanovsky was represented by attorney Dmitry Malyutov, chairman of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association. Tamerlan Bigaev was represented by attorney Kristina Tsypkalo. The matter was run by Vladimir Kovalev, founder and managing partner of Kovalev & Partners LLC: he led the case team, shaped the defence strategy and the documentary base, including the civil-law side of the defendants’ relationship with the party that commissioned the content, and coordinated the work of the bar association’s attorneys, who conducted the defence in court.

Vladimir Kovalev, head of the case team, founder and managing partner of Kovalev & Partners LLC, in the courtroom of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow at a hearing in the Tushite Svet case, 22 December 2022 — Vladimir Kovalev, head of the case team, founder and managing partner of Kovalev & Partners LLC, in the Tverskoy District Court, 22 December 2022. Photo: Sofya Sandurskaya / Moscow City News Agency, Tverskoy District Court of Moscow, 22 December 2022

The defence position

The key argument was formulated as early as November 2022 and did not change through to cassation: the journalists were not extorting money but working on the Telegram channel under civil-law contracts with the party commissioning the content. The defence gathered the documents confirming those contracts and maintained that the negotiations the investigation treated as extortion were a discussion of the terms of commercial content moderation. Romanovsky and Bigaev did not admit guilt at any stage.

Every extension of pre-trial detention was challenged: on 22 December 2022 the Tverskoy District Court extended custody for all three, the defence pressed for house arrest instead.
In the Khamovnichesky District Court the trial was held in camera at the victim’s request; the defence produced the contract documents and sought requalification.
After the verdict, appeals and then cassation appeals were filed.

The defence in the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow: attorneys Kristina Tsypkalo and Dmitry Malyutov at a hearing in the Tushite Svet case — The defence in the Tverskoy District Court: attorney Kristina Tsypkalo on the left, attorney Dmitry Malyutov in the centre. Photo: Sofya Sandurskaya / Moscow City News Agency, Tverskoy District Court of Moscow, 22 December 2022

Outcome

On 12 February 2024 the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow found all three guilty: Sukhanov received 7.5 years, Romanovsky and Bigaev 7 years each in a strict-regime colony. On 2 September 2024 the Moscow City Court, on the defence’s appeals, reduced each sentence by two years, to 5.5 and 5 years respectively; the victim himself asked for leniency. In February 2025 the defence filed a cassation appeal with the Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction. On 19 May 2026 Arian Romanovsky was released before the end of his term.

For our team the case is an example of how Kovalev & Partners LLC and the bar association’s attorneys work together in a high-profile criminal trial: the firm’s case team, led by the managing partner, shapes the strategy and the documentary base, and the attorneys conduct the defence in court. We use the same format in business-defence matters where a criminal prosecution grows out of an ordinary commercial dispute.

Attorney Dmitry Malyutov at a hearing of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow in the Tushite Svet case — Attorney Dmitry Malyutov, counsel for Arian Romanovsky.

Attorney Kristina Tsypkalo at a hearing of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow in the Tushite Svet case — Attorney Kristina Tsypkalo, counsel for Tamerlan Bigaev.

Timeline

24 October 2022 — criminal case opened; Kirill Sukhanov and Arian Romanovsky detained.
November 2022 — Tamerlan Bigaev detained; the defence publicly raises the contracts with the content commissioner.
22 December 2022 — Tverskoy District Court extends custody for all three.
12 February 2024 — Khamovnichesky District Court verdict: 7.5 / 7 / 7 years.
2 September 2024 — Moscow City Court reduces the terms to 5.5 / 5 / 5 years.
February 2025 — cassation appeal filed.
19 May 2026 — Arian Romanovsky released.

This description is based on open sources and the parties’ public statements; information protected by attorney–client privilege is not disclosed. The result in one case does not guarantee or imply a similar result in another.

Sources

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