Son of Russian kamikaze drone designer got a job at the UN

The son of designer Alexander Zakharov, Lavrentiy, started working at the UN Institute for Disarmament Affairs during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

The family of Russian designer Alexander Zakharov, who designed the Lancet kamikaze drone for the Russian army, owns a nearly $2 million apartment in central London, and Zakharov’s son Lavrenty works at the UN Institute for Disarmament Affairs, Vazhnye Istoryi reports.

“While the designer Alexander Zakharov is arming the Russian army, his son Lavrentiy Zakharov works at the UN Institute for Disarmament Affairs. Svetlana and Lavrentiy Zakharov, the wife and son of the creator of the Russian Lancet combat drones, have owned an apartment worth £1.5 million in an elite London neighbourhood since 2018”.

Vazhnye Istoryi report

The publication clarifies that the UK has imposed sanctions on the drone manufacturing company CST LLC but not on the Zakharov family.

Instead, the Zakharov family – wife Svetlana, son Nikita and daughter Maria – is involved in the drone business, as the Lancets are manufactured using foreign components that are banned from being supplied to Russia due to sanctions.

According to LinkedIn, Lavrentiy Zakharov has lived abroad since at least 2015, when he was 16. In the UK, he finished school and received a bachelor’s degree in politics, sociology and East European studies from University College London and then a master’s degree in conflict studies from the London School of Economics.

Since July 2021, he has worked for UN agencies in New York and Rome. Since May 2023, he has worked at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva, Switzerland.

According to UNIDIR’s website, Lavrentiy Zakharov’s research interests include the weapons and ammunition management program, demining, and humanitarian access.

Alexander Zakharov is a Russian designer who has been developing and manufacturing drones for over 15 years. His most famous invention is the Lancet kamikaze drone.

The drone was used in the Syrian war and is now widely used in Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Zakharov’s company CST is a part of the Kalashnikov concern, but the controlling stake belongs to Zakharov.

In 2022-2023, the Ministry of Defense purchased almost $39 million worth of drones from CST.