The Daughter, the Kremlin Envoy and the Oligarch: Inside Russia’s Return to Venice Biennale

When the Venice Biennale published its list of participating nations, one entry drew immediate attention. Russia, absent from the world’s most prestigious art exhibition since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, was set to return.

List of participants of the Russian pavilion. Source: La Biennale di Venezia

The project, titled The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky, was presented as a celebration of music, folklore and cross-cultural dialogue. “Politics exist within temporary dimensions, whereas cultures communicate in eternity,” said Mikhail Shvydkoy, Russia’s Special Representative for International Cultural Cooperation.

Findings by the Molfar Intelligence Institute, a Ukrainian open-source intelligence organisation, point to a more complex picture. Working with Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, MII analysts compiled profiles of 34 participants and organisers of the Russian pavilion, identifying links to Rostec, Gazprombank and cultural projects staged in Russian-occupied territories. Ukraine has since imposed sanctions on five of the participants and organisers, based on MII’s findings alongside other sources.

Behind the pavilion’s programme of world music and philosophy stands a tightly connected trio: a commissioner whose father spent three decades in the KGB and FSB; a Kremlin envoy decorated by Vladimir Putin for his role in foreign policy; and a sanctioned billionaire whose gas company supplies fuel and recruits personnel for the Russian military.

The Commissioner

Anastasia Karneyeva was appointed commissioner of the Russian pavilion in 2021 for an eight-year term. Educated at University College London, she previously worked at Christie’s auction in Moscow and is the co-founder of Smart Art, a consultancy that organises exhibitions, advises collectors and formally manages the Russian pavilion.

Anastasia Karneyeva. Source: Smart Art.

The other co-founder of Smart Art is Ekaterina Vinokurova (the daughter of Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister) is under international sanctions.

Karneyeva’s own family connections run deeper into the Russian security establishment. Her father, Nikolai Volobuev, served in the Soviet KGB from 1975 and then in its successor, the FSB, until 2004. He later became deputy director general of Rostec, Russia’s largest state-owned defence conglomerate — the manufacturer of military equipment, including aircraft, helicopters, engines, ammunition and small arms. He also sits on the board of Kalashnikov Concern, which produces different firearms and precision weapons. Volobuyev is under sanctions from the U.S., Canada and the UK. Rostec and its subsidiaries, including Kalashnikov, were also sanctioned by the U.S. and several other countries (1, 2).

The overlap between Karneyeva’s art world and her father’s defence world is not merely biographical. In 2020, she became a co-owner of Carbonix, holding a 10% stake in the company. Carbonix held a 66.6% stake in RT-Carbon, a project that planned to develop carbon implants for patients with bone and joint injuries.

The majority stake in Carbonix was owned by Vladislav Avayev, a former vice president of the sanctioned Gazprombank. A further 33.3% of RT-Carbon was held by RT-Proektniye Tekhnologii, a subsidiary of Rostec — the same corporation her father helps to lead.

In April 2022, weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Avayev died by suicide after the deaths of his pregnant wife and underage disabled daughter. Carbonix was dissolved in 2024.

In an interview with Russian media, Karneyeva said that before taking over the Russian pavilion at Biennale, she approached Leonid Mikhelson for financial support. “He’s known us for a long time,” she said, “so there’s a certain level of trust.” Mikhelson, whose role in this story will be examined shortly, is a sanctioned oligarch whose company has direct ties to the Russian military.

Source: Vedomosti.ru.

In another interview about Smart Art, Karneyeva also spoke about working with Gazprombank, which is under sanctions. According to her account, the company sold artworks for the bank’s corporate collection.

The pavilion has also drawn scrutiny for how it frames cultural references. In an interview published on its website (1, 2), the cultural significance of video games was discussed, with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Metro 2033 cited as examples of Russian culture, despite both being developed by Ukrainian studios GSC Game World and 4A Games.

A Polish novel by Stanisław Lem was cited among supposed Russian literary influences.

Source: the website of the Russian pavilion.

The Envoy

Mikhail Shvydkoy is the man who announced Russia’s return to Biennale. He confirmed to ARTnews that the pavilion would open in May, insisting there had been no break in participation. “Russia never left the Venice Biennale,” he said. “Since we have not gone anywhere, we are not ‘returning.’”

Mikhail Shvydkoy. Source: AGN “Moscow”

Shvydkoy has been Russian president’s special representative for international cultural cooperation since 2008. The role was created during Dmitry Medvedev’s presidency, when Putin briefly stepped sideways into the role of prime minister.

In December 2022, Putin awarded Shvydkoy the Order for Merit to the Fatherland, Third Class, citing “outstanding contributions to the planning and execution of diverse, large-scale events with foreign countries in the fields of culture, education, and youth exchanges.” On National Unity Day in November 2025, Putin presented the medal to Shvydkoy in the Kremlin.

In September 2023, Shvydkoy received the Presidential Certificate of Honour for his “significant contribution to the implementation of the Russian Federation’s foreign policy.”

Screenshot of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 22.12.2022 No. 933 “On awarding state honours of the Russian Federation”.

In April 2022, weeks into the invasion, Shvydkoy gave an interview in which he articulated his view of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The reason for sanctions against Russia, he said, was that Russia refuses to live in a unipolar world. Europe and the United States, he argued, had failed to listen to Putin’s 2007 speech in Munich, “where Putin outlined the red lines we would never allow to be crossed; everything was said there.”

Shvydkoy was also involved in shaping the pavilion’s team. One of them, Petr Musoev, was brought in by what MII’s dossier describes as “Shvydkoy’s team.”

The Financier

Russian oligarch Leonid Mikhelson does not appear on MII’s list of individuals submitted for sanctions. He does not need to. He is already sanctioned by the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ukraine.

Leonid Mikhelson. Source: Vedomosti.ru

What Mikhelson provides is the money. His V-A-C Foundation spent $470 million converting a former Moscow power station into GES-2, a large cultural complex combining exhibition spaces, performance venues, studios and public programmes.

GES-2 functions not only as an arts venue but also as a platform and funding source for cultural figures linked to the Russian pavilion. Of the 34 individuals identified by MII, at least 18 have performed at, exhibited in or been funded through GES-2.

Mikhelson’s wealth derives from Novatek, Russia’s largest independent gas producer. MII’s dossier, drawing on publicly available corporate records and media reports, notes that Novatek has been involved in recruiting and financially supporting Russian military personnel fighting in Ukraine, and that it supplies gas to the Russian Ministry of Defence and to companies in Russia’s military-industrial sector. The US, Canada and New Zealand have imposed sanctions on Novatek.

Mikhelson invested his wealth in GES-2, money earned through his gas business, which has links to Russia’s military. At least 18 of the 34 participants in the Russian pavilion come from this ecosystem — through exhibitions, residencies and concerts hosted at GES-2.

The Venice pavilion is presented as an expression of artistic freedom. In reality, it is backed by capital connected to the defence sector.

The Reaction

The European Commission has withdrawn €2 million in funding from the Venice Biennale after organisers allowed Russia to participate in this year’s exhibition.

Ukraine, together with 21 EU member states, criticised Russia’s return to the Biennale, warning that giving Moscow a major cultural platform during the war sends “a deeply troubling signal.” On April 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on five Russian cultural figures linked to the pavilion, including Karneyeva and Shvydkoy.

Karneyeva’s response, through TASS: “We continue to prepare the project.”

Shvydkoy, speaking to RBC, called the funding cut “an unworthy step by Brussels” and said it reflected political pressure rather than cultural considerations.

Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini called the EU’s position “vulgar blackmail” and “truly embarrassing.” Meanwhile, culture minister Alessandro Giuli said he would not attend the opening of the Venice Biennale in protest over the Russian pavilion.

Finland has also refused to send an official delegation to the Biennale due to Russia’s participation.

Meanwhile, the Biennale stated it “has no authority to prevent a country from participating” if it is recognised by Italy. In the end, all members of the Venice Biennale’s international jury resigned ahead of the opening amid the controversy over Russia’s return.

The European Commission has acted on funding. The question is whether it will act on people.

The Biennale opens on May 9. The tree, for now, remains rooted in the sky.