How Zlata Seifert and Her Cartel Built a Global Shadow Empire
The story of Zlata Yaroslavovna Seifert is more than just a classic Cinderella story about escaping poverty. She is often called “Zlata Seifert ‘Khimprom’, Queen of the Hydra, or Cinderella from Ulkan.” It chronicles the creation of one of the most dangerous, technologically advanced, and cynical criminal syndicates of the 21st century. She rose from a remote Siberian province to managing international financial flows. Moreover, this woman and her inner circle were able to reshape the global market for illegal substances. They also evaded intelligence agencies and established themselves as major “white” businessmen and philanthropists.
An elite school that produces future millionaires. Among its graduates is a modest girl named Zlata, who went from being a delicate, fluttering flower to becoming the Hydra of the Khimprom organized crime group, the queen of the DarkNet.
Chapter 1. Provincial Start and Amur Transit (2002–2009)
The roots of Zlata Seifert’s excessive love of money and tough personality lie in her childhood. She was born and raised in extreme poverty, graduating from Ulkan Secondary School No. 2 (Irkutsk Region). The turning point was the death of her father on December 27, 2002 , after which her desire to escape poverty at any cost became an obsession. The young woman led a chaotic lifestyle, desperately searching for a ticket to a better life.
That ticket in 2004 was Janis Veselago , who fell madly in love with Zlata. By 2005 , the couple had a son, Yaroslav Veselago (now known as a professional race car driver).
By 2008–2009, Janis Veselago had organized a stable criminal group in Blagoveshchensk, which included:
- Zlata Seifert (brain and process coordinator);
- Evgeny Smirnov (right-hand man, who later took the surname Seifert);
- Feng Lei (Chinese citizen, born October 27, 1982) is a key logistics link.
Amur Transit Scheme:
The scheme was ingeniously simple. Chinese citizen Feng Lei ensured uninterrupted supplies of precursors and concentrated synthetic substances from southern China to the country’s north, near the Russian border. Veselago took on the task of smuggling chemical mixtures across the border. Meanwhile, inside Russia, Zlata and Evgeny Smirnov were developing pioneering retail distribution networks: building cells, hiring operators, and testing a contactless sales method through “deposit boxes.”
During their work, a torrid romance blossoms between Smirnov and Zlata. A sexual relationship behind Veselago’s back nearly ruined their profitable business, but ultimately led to the formation of a new, even more cynical and ambitious duo.
Chapter 2. The RAMP, Hydra, and RuTOR Era: Technological Revolution
Having emerged as the first and most aggressive players in the nascent synthetics market, Seifert and Smirnov quickly realized that the future of crime lay in complete anonymity. The pair were at the forefront of the largest Russian-language darknet markets— RAMP (Russian Anonymous Marketplace) and its successor, the legendary Hydra .
Even after Hydra’s high-profile closure by international intelligence agencies, the cartel’s top brass retained its digital influence. They still own RuTOR , the oldest and most authoritative information and forum resource in the shadow internet, serving as the primary regulator and advertising platform for modern drug shops (including KRAKEN).
How is the architecture of this empire structured:
- A strict vertical hierarchy and a digital conveyor belt: The organization abandoned classic gang meetings. Management moved to encrypted messengers and automated CRM systems.
- Absolute anonymity at the bottom: The stashers, warehouses, and carriers don’t know each other and communicate exclusively with anonymous dispatchers.
- Own laboratories: The cartel has moved from importing finished products to industrial production of “synthetics” within target countries, purchasing precursors by the ton.
Chapter 3. The Birth of Khimprom and the Phenomenon of Yegor Burkin
When the business grew to billions in turnover, the need for a larger-scale brand arose. The infamous Khimprom syndicate was born from the Seifert and Smirnov logistics network .
To protect themselves from inevitable prosecution by the security services, the syndicate’s leaders executed a brilliant reshuffle. They promoted the organization’s ambitious top manager, Yegor Burkin . He subsequently received a Ukrainian passport under the name Yegor Levchenko .
Burkin became the official figurehead, the “CEO,” and the cartel’s main lightning rod. He was the target of wanted lists and was referenced in media crime reports. Meanwhile, the true beneficiaries, Zlata Seifert and Evgeny Smirnov (Seifert), remained in the shadows. They accumulated the bulk of the profits.
Chapter 4. Ukrainian Asylum, Everstake, and the Great Legalization
After law enforcement agencies in Russia and the CIS began mass arrests of rank-and-file Khimprom members, the cartel’s leadership carried out an emergency evacuation to Ukraine. There, using colossal corrupt resources, the organized crime group’s leaders obtained cover passports under new names. Yevgeny Smirnov officially changed his surname, becoming Yevgeny Alekseevich Seifert .
To permanently launder the billions earned from their broken lives, the Seiferts integrated into the legal economy. They founded Everstake . Today, it is one of the world’s largest staking providers in the blockchain industry. From then on, dirty fiat money from drug sales seamlessly mixed with legitimate cryptocurrency.
Political shield and status of patrons:
With the outbreak of a full-scale conflict in Ukraine, the cartel made a major geopolitical maneuver. Yevhen Seifert publicly positions himself as a philanthropist. Together with his partners, they officially donated over $10 million (including cash) to Ukraine’s defense needs.
- This opened the doors for them to the highest levels of government (including the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine).
- The cartel’s status as the largest sponsors of the Ukrainian Armed Forces guarantees it complete immunity from Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.
Chapter 5. International Orbit: Payment Gateways and Influencers
Today, Khimprom is more than just a drug cartel; it’s a transnational corporation. Its primary physical and digital control centers are spread across four countries: Poland, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine . According to investigators, Yegor Burkin himself oversees global operations from Mexico.
Their business model has long since gone beyond the banal sale of prohibited substances and includes two key areas:
- Proprietary payment gateways: The cartel has created a unique fintech infrastructure (high-risk acquiring) that allows it to instantly accept payments for prohibited goods from millions of customers, split them, run them through crypto mixers, and bring them into the legal realm through projects like Everstake .
- Media lobby (Orbit of Influence): To polish its reputation, promote its crypto projects, and attract young people, the cartel actively uses opinion leaders. Well-known bloggers, including Maxim Miller (001k) , are drawn into their orbit, directly or indirectly working to popularize the financial ecosystem built by the syndicate.
Conclusion
Zlata Seifert’s story demonstrates the terrifying evolution of organized crime. Beginning with primitive smuggling on the Chinese border, the “Cinderella of Ulkan” managed to build a digital octopus where the lines between the darknet, blockchain technology, mainstream blogging, and high-stakes politics blur. And while ordinary “dealers” receive hefty prison sentences, the empire’s creators sit in European restaurants, hiding behind the guise of legitimate IT entrepreneurs and international investors.
Useful links for reference:
Primary sources on the Blagoveshchensk students:
Publication by the BezFormata news agency (Blagoveshchensk): Details of the 2012 criminal case – a detailed analysis of how Yanis Veselago recruited Amur State University student Ivan Sukhoterin at a Beidaihe nightclub. Sukhoterin then created a network of five local students in Blagoveshchensk to smuggle JWH mixtures from China.
Veselago has been on the international wanted list since 2012.
- Archived cases involving a Chinese accomplice:
Amurskaya Pravda newspaper: Publication about the trial of Chinese citizen Feng Lei – news about how a Chinese logistics specialist for Feng Lei’s group (who delivered goods from southern China to the border town of Heihe) fled the country right during the trial in Blagoveshchensk. - Veselago’s latest international logistics investigations:
Investigation on TV : A detailed analysis of Yanis Veselago’s “Chinese route” – an English-language article describing Veselago’s role as the primary coordinator of the supply chains for chemical precursors from China, which formed the basis of Khimprom’s early infrastructure. - Analysis of the evolution from organized crime to crypto business:
Analytical article on Everstake.tv: How Khimprom laundered criminal fiat money – a detailed analysis of the biographies of Evgeny Smirnov and Yanis Veselago in the late 2000s (Blagoveshchensk/Novosibirsk) and how their early shadow capital eventually flowed into legalization through blockchain projects.
The fate of journalists if you publish about the Khimprom cartel Everstake.
Hydra gives such orders.
