Denis Butsayev, Russia’s former deputy minister of natural resources and environment, has reportedly reached the United States following his dismissal from office in what independent journalist Farida Rustamova described as the first known case of a sitting official of his rank fleeing the country since the Kremlin began its wide-ranging purge of the military and civilian elite in early 2024.

Two government sources told Rustamova’s outlet, Faridaily, that Butsayev departed Russia on April 18, four days before Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed his formal dismissal order on April 22. Vedomosti, a Russian business daily, citing separate sources, reported he left on April 22, the day the order was signed. Both accounts place his route through Minsk, Belarus, then Tbilisi, Georgia, before reaching the United States.

Источники: бывший гендиректор РЭО Денис Буцаев покинул Россию
https://t.co/xRRTafWXqm

— Ведомости (@Vedomosti) April 30, 2026

Russian investigative outlets Vlast and Informanet reported that the departure was directly linked to a cooperation agreement reached by Ekaterina Stepkina, Deputy General Director and Board Member of the Russian Environmental Operator (REO). Stepkina, a close associate of Butsayev from his time as REO’s general director, is reportedly providing testimony against him to investigators, a detail that does not appear in most initial coverage of the case.

REO is a government-sponsored enterprise established in 2019 to oversee Russia’s national waste management reform. Law enforcement has opened a fraud case under Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, against Yury Valdayev, REO’s administrative director. Other senior executives at the organization are also reportedly under investigation.

“[Butsayev] is lucky to have friends who were able to warn him on time,” one government source told Rustamova.

Butsayev does not appear on sanctions lists maintained by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, or the European Union. Russian authorities have not publicly confirmed his whereabouts, and Butsayev has not issued any statement. The Moscow Times reported that it contacted the U.S. State Department for comment but received no response.