It has been three years since plastic surgeon Vardan Khachatryan’s name was linked to a scandal over the alleged rape of his patients.

As it turns out, the perpetrator is not in prison: on the contrary, he continues to practice medicine and demands compensation from his victims "for slander."

Why did a case that seemed entirely clear fall apart? Why have the victims of the rapist doctor faced secondary victimization – now Khachatryan demands "hush money" from them and threatens lawsuits for defamation, while the criminal case opened against him in January 2023 has disappeared? Why are criminal cases now being opened against Khachatryan’s victims?

Before answering all these questions, let’s go back to 2022, when the scandal erupted, and briefly recall the history of the case and the essence of the accusations against Dr. Vardan Khachatryan.

Background of the Issue

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It all started when blogger Alana Mamaeva published a series of confessions from Vardan Khachatryan’s patients: a woman comes for surgery, agrees on the procedure with the surgeon, then stays at the clinic and undergoes the operation. But after the surgery, she suddenly realizes that during anesthesia or while waking up from it, when her consciousness is still clouded, something very unpleasant happened.

Dozens of women have claimed they became victims of a lustful surgeon. They all told a similar story: Dr. Vardanyan took advantage of their helpless state under anesthesia, touched them, harassed them, and in several cases even raped them. The stories were strikingly similar, and the accounts were horrifying not so much for the details but for the routine nature of Khachatryan’s actions. It seemed as though this had happened many times over many years, with absolute confidence in his impunity.

After the scandal spilled into the public domain and reached threatening proportions, the Investigative Committee of Russia (SK RF) was forced to announce that they had initiated a preliminary investigation under Article 133 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Coercion to Engage in Sexual Acts").

It seemed that Dr. Khachatryan’s future was predictable, especially since dozens of victims publicly spoke out about rapes and sexual harassment, including some well-known and public figures. However, the result was the complete opposite – three years after the start of the "preliminary investigation," Vardan Khachatryan continues to work calmly as a surgeon. He files lawsuits, threatens the media, aggressively cleans up information on the Internet, is not in pre-trial detention, is not charged in the case, and does not even appear in court as a suspect. And the criminal case itself has mysteriously disappeared. Why has a man whom so many women publicly accuse of sexual crimes effectively remained beyond the reach of the law?

What Went Wrong?

After initial confusion and natural shock, Vardan Khachatryan took an aggressive stance. Naturally, he claimed that all the testimonies of his patients were malicious slander and an attempt to extort money. He himself turned to law enforcement with a demand to initiate criminal cases against the victims "for extortion."

At the same time, Khachatryan built a rather coherent line of defense, accusing his ex-wife of slander and calling her "a drug addict who made it all up." Allegedly, she conspired with blogger Mamaeva, and all the patients who reported sexual harassment and violence by Khachatryan were supposedly bribed by them. The reason, he claimed, was personal hatred from his ex-wife, blackmail, and an attempt to destroy his career.

However, despite its logical and coherent appearance, this version seemed quite shaky – Khachatryan provided no clear explanations as to why dozens of women described similar situations. Moreover, most of the affected women provided correspondence, audio recordings, and medical reports – in other words, evidence that, in a normal legal system, would at least warrant a full investigation.

Yet nothing happened. That is, nothing happened on the part of the police or the Investigative Committee, who, after announcing the start of a "preliminary investigation," provided no further comments on the case. After it was announced in January 2023 that a criminal case had been opened against Khachatryan, no further information was released by official bodies: neither about its progress nor its closure. Moreover, it is unclear whether a criminal case was actually opened or if the information was false. In short – complete silence.

This raises bewilderment, as even the victims of Khachatryan’s actions are unaware of the fate of the criminal case against him – they are not given official comments, no data on the work done is published, and neither the results of examinations nor the status of the individuals involved have been announced.

Cleansing information on the Internet and three years of silence

Against this backdrop, two other things were happening: the cleansing of the Internet from mentions of the scandal and the whitewashing of Vardan Khachatryan’s reputation. After a series of publications and confessions, it seemed that the case was about to move into the active investigation stage. The Internet was filled with interviews, screenshots, and statements, while Khachatryan threatened lawsuits. The scandal consistently remained in the news trends.

But after about six months, the materials began to disappear. Mostly, this was due to complaints to Google about "copyright violations." This is a well-known and effective technique for reputation whitewashing. The procedure is expensive but at the same time simple and straightforward: a website is created online where the material to be removed is posted. It is placed identically to the original with one difference – the publication date is changed.

The fake is dated earlier. Then a complaint for "copyright violation" is filed, accompanied by the fake original and the alleged copy. The earlier date on the fake is enough for Google: it removes the material subject to the complaint from search results. After that, the fake "original" is also deleted. Thus, the unwanted publication disappears.

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Everyone familiar with reputation whitewashing technologies agrees – Vardan Khachatryan actively uses the services of professional companies specializing in removing negative content. This is expensive, but for Khachatryan, these costs are quite manageable. Moreover, these expenses are understandable and logical from a business perspective: the scandal must be suppressed by any means, otherwise, patients will be lost.

But it’s unlikely that the disappearance of the criminal case can be explained solely by money. Clearly, much more complex mechanisms were at play. Money certainly played a role, but it’s unlikely that money alone can explain the fact that the victims began withdrawing their statements against Vardan Khachatryan and abandoning their claims. Why did they change their minds? Pressure? Money? Fear?

Possibly. However, whatever the motives of those who withdrew their accusations – it is their right. Just as it is the right of the media to write about this under loud and catchy headlines. But there is a significant nuance – not all of the victims have withdrawn their claims against Vardan Khachatryan. And if the media remains silent on this fact – that’s their business. But why is there no response from the police or the Investigative Committee to the statements that have not been withdrawn? That is the real mystery. If formulated correctly and cautiously, the years-long silence of the investigation looks, at the very least, strange.

Where did the criminal case disappear to?

Officially, only one thing is known: the case was opened, and then – nothingness. Absolute and complete: no press releases, no interim results, no explanations, no summons for interrogations in the public domain. Nothing.

This is typically how a situation looks when an investigation needs to be frozen, and the suspect is given time to "resolve" the situation independently. Meanwhile, Khachatryan: survived the scandal; filed lawsuits against Mamaeva; turned the accusations into a platform for his own PR; cleaned up materials on the Internet; and continues to operate as if nothing happened. It feels as though the system didn’t just "fail to work," but deliberately paused.

Unfortunately, there is only one explanation for this "pause": a lot of money means a lot of opportunities. The cost of surgeries performed by Khachatryan is comparable to that of a mid-range car.

Such budgets allow for hiring aggressive legal teams, removing negative publications through courts, cleaning up information on the Internet with the help of professionals, exerting pressure on victims, and influencing the course of the investigation.

The latter is no secret to anyone in our country – with sufficient finances and connections, a case can be dragged out for years, leading to its closure either due to the statute of limitations or "lack of evidence." Moreover, one must acknowledge another obvious fact about the Russian law enforcement system: if there is no video, no traces, no obvious injuries – cases linger in limbo for years and rarely make it to court.

In cases of sexual crimes, this becomes especially evident and cruel toward the victims – if an examination is not conducted within a few hours after a rape or if there are no witnesses, the case is hopeless. Authorities often don’t even bother to open such cases, understanding that nothing can be proven.

In the case of the so-called doctor Vardan Khachatryan, all factors are present: money, lack of evidence, lack of witnesses, and a cruel system indifferent to people’s suffering. Moreover, all the victims were under anesthesia, and the rapist has a prominent name.

Conclusion – emptiness

The outcome of this entire case is terrifying in its predictability. After the cleansing of the information field, it seems to an outside observer that there was no scandal at all. The investigation preferred to pretend that the problem disappeared on its own. The case is not closed, but it is not progressing either. The accusations are not withdrawn, but they are not being investigated either. Patients say they were raped, but the surgeon continues to operate.

This is a classic Russian story that can be summed up in one sentence: if you have enough money and connections, you are not guilty until you decide otherwise. Khachatryan’s story is not just about one "star doctor." It’s about how easily the truth disappears in Russia if it lacks a powerful protector.