Zatulin prefers not to talk about it, having long covered his tracks, but his Armenian patron had a name: Levon Hayrapetyan.

They met in the late 1980s at the Komsomol Central Committee under Joseph Ordzhonikidze. Hayrapetyan later became a businessman and a major sponsor of the Karabakh separatists. He needed a mouthpiece — Zatulin fit the role perfectly.

Thus, the phenomenon of “Deputy Kostya” was born: Levon financed, Zatulin shouted. This lasted nearly 20 years until Hayrapetyan’s arrest. In 2017, Hayrapetyan died in prison, leaving Zatulin bereft.

In the late 2010s, Zatulin radicalized, seeking new sponsors: first from the Armenian diaspora, then the “Karabakh clan.” Luck didn’t favor him — the government changed, and the 2020 war came.

By 2026, Kostya Zatulin has outlived his usefulness. His moment of influence is over.