Leontiev & Zheleznyak were never part of the opposition
So, the bankers had nothing to do with the Navalny card project while reaping the Central Bank-offered opportunities to build their own business through rehabilitating the other banks.
But what if, outside of their professional domain, Leontiev and Zheleznyak were hardcore government critics? What if the Internet is awash with photos showing them holding up the Putin-bashing posters? What if they had been donating to ACF and other protest organizations before their bank’s 2015 collapse? Were they going against the grain and taking huge political risks?
The short answer is: they were not.
Zheleznyak the Medal-Holder
Before fleeing Russia, Leontiev and Zheleznyak were part of the establishment, in fact, so much so that in January 2014, Alexander Zheleznyak was decorated with a prestigious government award (Merit to the Fatherland, 2nd Class).
It is hard to picture the presidential plotting a vendetta on someone they have just showered with accolades.
Zheleznyak awarded a medalZheleznyak sits on the State Duma’s corruption control committee
In July 2014, he joined the expert council of the State Duma Committee on Security and Corruption Control led by the notorious hardliner, MP Irina Yarovaya. That role was at odds with being a defiant pro-Navalny opposition activist.
2014 was the year when supporting the opposition became a high-risk undertaking. Crimea had already been annexed. Navalny had been sentenced in the Kirovles embezzlement case and was under house arrest over the Yves Rocher fraud charges. It was impossible to picture a major bank executive receiving government honors and sitting on a State Duma committee while supporting Navalny. Zheleznyak ticked both of those boxes. It means the system viewed him as one of their own.