A vast network dedicated to academic dishonesty, fueled by Google Ads and generating nearly $25 million in revenue, has unveiled surprising connections to a Kremlin-connected oligarch whose Russian university is actively involved in building drones for Russia’s war against Ukraine. This intricate web of essay mills, disguised as legitimate academic assistance services, operates under various "nerdy" and "geeky" branded websites like thenerdify[.]com and geekly-hub[.]com, which despite proclaiming an "honor code" that disavows cheating, readily provide students with fully written essays for a fee, as confirmed by investigative journalist Joseph Thibault. These operations have repeatedly circumvented Google’s advertising policies, which prohibit ads promoting dishonest behavior, by forming new entities with front-persons, often young Ukrainian women, whenever their accounts are shut down.

Among the defunct UK entities previously advertising through Google Ads were Proglobal Solutions LTD (nerdifyit[.]com), AW Tech Limited (thenerdify[.]com), and Geekly Solutions Ltd (geekly-hub[.]com). Currently, active Google Ads accounts for the Nerdify brands include OK Marketing LTD, fronted by Ukrainian Olha Karpenko and advertising geekly-hub[.]net©, and Two Sigma Solutions LTD, advertising litero[.]ai and fronted by Olekszij (Alexey) Pokatilo. Mr. Pokatilo, a long-time participant in the essay-writing industry since at least 2009, previously co-owned Livingston Research, a paper mill that outsourced writing tasks to low-cost labor from various countries, including Russia and Ukraine.

Pokatilo later relocated to the UK in 2015 and co-founded Awesome Technologies with Filip Perkon, a Swedish national residing in London. Perkon, who describes himself as a serial entrepreneur and investor, shared a past with Pokatilo as co-founders of the student group Russian Business Week while they were classmates at the London School of Economics. Investigative journalist Christo Grozev has noted that Perkon’s birth certificate was issued by the Soviet Embassy in Sweden.

During the period when Pokatilo and Perkon launched Awesome Technologies, Perkon was also instrumental in developing the "Russian Diplomatic Online Club," a social media propaganda tool designed to amplify Russian messaging online. This club encouraged subscribers to utilize a third-party application called Tweetsquad to automatically retweet Kremlin propaganda on Twitter. The Russian Embassy in London even lauded Perkon for his efforts, notably during the Brexit vote, when the embassy leveraged this tool to auto-retweet the Russian ambassador’s posts from supporter accounts. Neither Mr. Perkon nor Mr. Pokatilo initially responded to requests for comment regarding their alleged involvement.

Further scrutiny of Perkon’s corporate affiliations, as documented by the business research service North Data, reveals his directorship in several UK subsidiaries of Synergy University, identified as Russia’s largest private educational institution with over 35,000 students. Synergy University notably sells merchandise bearing patriotic slogans such as "Crimea is Ours" and "The Russian Empire – Reloaded." The president of Synergy University, Vadim Lobov, is recognized as a Kremlin insider, with his Moscow headquarters reportedly featuring a prominent portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lobov and Perkon also co-produced "Russian Film Week," a cross-cultural event held in the UK.

Vadim Lobov was reportedly among 11 individuals hand-picked by convicted Russian spy Marina Butina to attend the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. Despite Synergy University’s claims of being a leading educational institution, numerous international students from countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana have reported being victims of a deceptive scheme. These students allege paying substantial advance fees for promised study visas to Russia, only to have their applications denied without any refunds. Online reviews echo these grievances, with students describing responsive representatives prior to payment who later become unresponsive after visa rejections, leaving them with significant financial losses and unfulfilled aspirations. Similar patterns have been observed in reviews from students from Pakistan, Nepal, India, and various African nations, all detailing a consistent modus operandi: attractive online marketing, assurances of easy visa approval, upfront payments, followed by silence and visa denials. Discussions on platforms like Reddit (r/Moscow and r/AskARussian) are replete with warnings labeling Synergy University as a "scam" and a "diploma mill," with some citing Russian television investigations that allegedly exposed students paying to pass exams.

The "About Us" page on the Nerdify website states that the company was co-founded by Pokatilo and an American named Brian Mellor. However, there is no verifiable evidence of a person with this name ever being associated with Nerdify, suggesting this identity may be fabricated. It appears that Awesome Technologies, co-founded by Pokatilo and Perkon, ceased operations shortly after its inception, with Nerdify subsequently adopting the practice of accepting assignment requests via text message and distributing them to freelance writers. An examination of early Nerdify "About Us" pages on the Wayback Machine indicates that Filip Perkon was indeed a co-founder, with a photograph showing him wearing a Nerdify T-shirt at a San Francisco rooftop event.

Currently, Alexey Pokatilo is at the helm of Litero.Ai, an AI-based essay writing service that secured $800,000 in pre-seed funding in July 2025 from an investment program backed by AltaIR Capital, Yellow Rocks, Smart Partnership Capital, and I2BF Global Ventures. Pokatilo has stated that Litero.Ai is designed to enhance transparency and academic integrity in the age of AI, and emphatically denies any connection to Synergy or Vadim Lobov, asserting that his collaboration with Perkon concluded with the dissolution of Awesome Technologies. He expressed deep personal offense at any suggestion of his company’s involvement with Russia’s war efforts, highlighting his Ukrainian heritage and the presence of many Ukrainian team members at Litero.ai.

Meanwhile, Filip Perkon has ventured into establishing "Duck World" stores, selling toy rubber ducks in Miami and across the United Kingdom. These stores are marketed as "the world’s largest duck store." Perkon has clarified that his involvement with Synergy University was limited to a role within its venture capital arm until 2013 and a subsequent business school project in the UK that did not materialize. He also noted that Synergy provided sponsorship for his Russian Film Week event, which he ran until 2022 and discontinued following the start of the Ukraine war. Perkon stated he has had no business dealings with Vadim Lobov since 2021 and does not track his activities. Regarding Alexey Pokatilo, Perkon described him as a university friend, and their business relationship ended years ago with the unsuccessful concierge service, Awesome Technologies.

In a separate development, Vadim Lobov recently accompanied Russian President Vladimir Putin’s entourage on a visit to India. While Synergy University is presented as an educational institution, a review of its corporate footprint, including its domain name system (DNS) records, reveals its involvement in aiding the Russian government’s war efforts in Ukraine. The website bpla.synergy[.]bot, for instance, explicitly states the company’s engagement in developing combat drones for Russian forces and for circumventing international sanctions on high-tech product supply and re-export. This revelation, aided by the research of NatInfoSec, underscores the complex and concerning links between seemingly disparate entities and the ongoing conflict.