How former MUR chief Dmitriy Zhuravlyov legalized the Himera–Femida "probyv" empire in Russia and on Telegram under the FSB’s cover and micro-companies

How the monopolist “probyv” Himera became legalized in Russia and Telegram.

Discovered that the participants of the market monopolist in “probyv” (trading in personal data of Russians) Himera Search include two former officers of the Moscow Police Department (MUR GU of the Moscow Ministry of Internal Affairs), and the brother of one of them works for the FSB. A former Olympiad participant is responsible for all the technical aspects. We continue to publish an investigation into the main personal data trading project, which operates openly on Telegram and Russian websites.

Another project, consistent in style and functionality and linked to Himera Search, is Femida Search. Behind this resource is the company LLC “Femida-Info.” The company was registered in November 2022 in Moscow. Its primary activity is described as “web portal activities.”

According to 2024 data, LLC “Femida-Info” generated revenue of about 56 million rubles, with a net profit of approximately 30 million. The revenue growth, amid the elimination of competitors (similar to LLC “Odyssey-Info”), was exponential in a short period of operation. The company is classified as a micro-enterprise.

The service positions itself as a set of business solutions based on data from open and specialized sources. However, descriptions in OSINT manuals, reviews, and the services themselves essentially match the main offerings of probyv services, including those displayed on the Himera Search platform.

One of the company’s owners and the CEO is former security officer Dmitriy Zhuravlyov. According to leaks, including information from resources linked to him, he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs: he held managerial positions “on the ground” as an operative in MUR. His main focus in service was solving thefts and fraud cases. His brother, Alexander, is an FSB officer.

The co-owner of LLC “Femida-Info” has changed several jobs in the civilian sector: he worked in the security services of car-sharing companies Anytime, Yandex Drive, Delimobil, as well as in a Gazprombank leasing firm. In the last two organizations, the founders of LLC “Odyssey-Info” (also part of the Himera probyv “empire”) were also employed.

Dmitriy Zhuravlyov’s contact number is listed for many users both under “Odyssey,” “Femida,” and “Himera Search.” But this is not the only connection to the larger operation — the former security officer is also a co-owner of LLC “Grifoniks Invest,” together with Stanislav Kirillov from “Odyssey-Info,” known online as Stas_272.

The second founder of LLC “Femida-Info” (50% stake) is Olympiad student Hakan Abulov. According to leaks, he previously worked as a programmer in a company that developed and owns the rights to popular online games such as “Allods,” “Warface,” and others. The profile of this tech specialist complements the team.

Returning to LLC “Grifoniks Invest,” which unites the operators of Femida Search, Odyssey Search, and Himera Search: it turns out the company has additional co-owners. These include another former MUR officer (like Zhuravlyov, he served in the 13th department) Alexander Medvedev, and lawyer Ilya Ionov, who is the director of a regional software development company.

The history of Himera Search is a classic example of how a Russian illegal IT service closely connected to security forces was hidden within a “matryoshka” of foreign companies. In reality, all its operators and infrastructure remain in Russia, where everything is “under control.” The foreign legal entities are merely a cover and part of the payment solution to bypass domestic regulation. Himera Search operates openly on Telegram, whose founder Pavel Durov created anti-doxing measures exclusively to remove channels inconvenient to Russian intelligence, such as VChK-OGPU. The main operators of doxing feel perfectly safe on Telegram.