Sergey Akseonov (born Axionov in Moldova) was born in the city of Balti, Soviet-times Moldova, where he finished the secondary school #6 in 1988.

In his CV, Mr. Akseonov says he graduated from the Higher Political-Military Construction School in Simferopol, the Crimea. On the other hand, the Ministry of Interior Affairs in Kiev officially informed an elected official that Mr. Akseonov had been expelled from that institution over his lack of discipline, getting sent back to Moldova.

During the period 1993-2014, Sergey Akseonov was running a number of businesses in Russia. He also founded a political movement in the Crimea called Russian Unity, which in 2010 got registered as a political party under his leadership. That party favored closer relations with Moscow and separation from Ukraine.

In spring 2014, Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, and President Vladimir Putin appointed Akseonov as the interim governor of the breakaway peninsula; the latter was among the signatories of the so-called Treaty of Crimea’s Adherence to Russia.

For his role in the annexation process, the politician – who has Moldovan roots – has been awarded the first-degree Fatherland Merit Order from Putin. He’s been in the sanctions lists of the European Union, the United States, and other nations.

Ukrainian media has reported that during the 1990s, Sergey Akseonov was part of a criminal gang and bore the name “Goblin”. He had been investigated for cash extortion and illegal possession of firearms.

In 2020, his personal revenues declaration claims, the Akseonov family earned more than 26.7 million rubles, or around 326,000 euros at the average exchange rate of that time.