Filenews 16 January 2026 - by Fanis Makridis
Very well networked with high-ranking Russian officials was Anton Panov. The employee of the Russian embassy in Nicosia, shortly before taking up his duties in Cyprus, had spoken with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of his country, Sergei Lavrov.
This emerges from the phone records of the suicide that were secured and revealed the day before yesterday late in the afternoon by the Russian website The Insider (theins.ru). As for the time when the 47-year-old Panov came to Cyprus, this is not clarified by the publication of the website in question.
However, reports on other websites have the deceased being transferred to the Russian embassy in Cyprus last fall. Insider, which specializes in research and analysis, reports that in addition to Lavrov, the 47-year-old maintained contacts with the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the SVR, politicians of the LDPR party founded by the well-known Vladimir Zhirinovsky and other pro-Russian figures.
In addition to his phone call to Lavrov, Anton Panov, before packing his bags for our island, had called high-ranking officials of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the informant "Sasha Sniper", i.e. Alexander Borisov. He also maintained contacts with the wanted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs Sergei Chekov.
More specifically, the phone files that came into the possession of The Insider, before his mission to Cyprus, Panov contacted the following persons:
>> Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
>> The latter's advisor Bakhtyer Hakimov
>> The high-ranking members of Russian diplomacy who served in the past as deputy foreign ministers, Mikhail Bogdanov and Galina Sulga.
>> The head of the Department of Foreign Exchange-Financial Affairs (VFD) Andrei Lysikov (in the VFD, as stated in the publication, SVR and GRU officers who conduct espionage under diplomatic cover are usually assigned).
>> The current Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Hungary, Evgeny Stanoslavov.
>> The diplomat, Vasnetsov, who served as ambassador to Moldova.
>> Andrei Lanchikov, who was allegedly an adviser to the Russian embassy in Uzbekistan.
>> Former Russian senator Sergei Chekov from Crimea.
>> "Sasha Sniper", which is probably the nickname of Alexander Borisov, of the "United Russia" party.
In the publication of The Insider website
Panov had served in the FSB and SVR intelligence services and was then transferred to the Foreign Ministry. Panov studied in the department "Infocommunication Technologies and Special Communications Systems" at the branch of the FSO Academy in the city of Voronezh (border with Ukraine). After graduation, he served as a cryptographer in the FSB's NTC "Atlas", and then transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The website The Insider cites a source in the Russian ministry, and says that he was hired by the Foreign Ministry after the actions of Ilya Sosnovsky, an aide to the head of the LDPR party, Leonid Slutsky — known for his ties to the security services. At that time, Panov was in contact with SVR lieutenant colonel Dmitry Petrichev, who previously served in unit 54939, the so-called "House of Residents" of the SVR in Goncharnaya Ulitsa, which was engaged in social networks and online information gathering.
