Vitaly Orlov does not wish to be associated with the sanctioned company he owns, even though the fact of his ownership is recorded even by the Russian edition of Forbes. The reason is simple: the sanctions against his firm rest on its alleged involvement in espionage and sabotage activities (eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-cont…). His actions play into the hands of the Russian authorities. It is hard not to see a coordinated assault in which the Kremlin, using the hands and money of an oligarch dependent on the state, seeks to settle scores with uncensored journalism. The cost of proceedings in the High Court of London is ruinous for a small independent title, while for an oligarch it may represent only a modest fee for a service rendered to the authorities. That Vitaly Orlov depends on the favour of the Russian state is built into the very nature of his business. Norebo is a typical large holder of fishing quotas from the Russian authorities. Without those quotas the company could not conduct industrial fishing on anything like its present scale. If it were to lose the quotas issued by the Russian state, Orlov’s business would disappear. It is therefore no surprise that the attack on The Barents Observer serves the interests of both the Russian authorities and an oligarch closely tied to them. Vitaly Orlov is not the first to pursue independent media in this way. The oligarch Alisher Usmanov followed the same path, contesting any mention of his business in connection with the Russian authorities. For him it ended in the lifting of sanctions following a discreditable decision by the EU. It is reasonable to suppose that Vitaly Orlov is pursuing the same dual strategy: rendering services to the Russian authorities while simultaneously scrubbing unwelcome references to his name from the public record.