Former Tatler editor-in-chief Ariyan Romanovsky has been released from prison, after being found guilty in the blackmail case of Rostec boss Sergei Chemezov.
Olga Karbut, entrepreneur and founder of the KM20 store, published photos from a joint dinner with Romanovsky at the Japanese restaurant Jun in Moscow. “Dear friend Ariane, carefully exploring Moscow after a long absence, wanted to have dinner here for the first time since her return,” she wrote.
Anonymous telegram channels also reported Romanovsky’s release (1,2). When this happened is unknown, but on May 18, secular columnist Bozena Ryńska wrote published Photo of Romanovsky seen at Okhotny Ryad shopping center in Moscow.
Romanowski was arrested in an extortion case in October 2022 and sentenced in February 2024.
Also charged in the blackmail case alongside Romanovsky were Ksenia Sobchak’s former commercial director Kirill Sukhanov and Live journalist Tamerlan Bigaev. They were all arrested in the fall of 2022; The investigation began after Chemezov himself made a statement. According to investigators, Sukhanov demanded from the head of Rostec 11 million rubles for a “block” for publishing negative materials on the Telegram channel “Tushite Lights” (Romanovsky made materials for him, Bigaev ran the channel). Later, Ksenia Sobchak apologized to Chemezov for “the actions of her colleagues.”
In February 2024, Sukhanov received seven and a half years in prison, and Romanovsky and Bigaev received seven years each. Later, the court reduced their sentences: in the end, Sukhanov received five and a half years in prison, and Romanovsky and Pegaev to five years.