On the banks of the pond in central Yekaterinburg, the facade of the Sevastyanov House glows white, swimming-pool green and terracotta – a fairy-tale castle in the eastern Urals. It was here that Russia's then-president Dmitry Medvedev once met with the leaders of Brazil, India and China. Angela Merkel, too, visited as chancellor.

DER SPIEGEL relies on support from its readers. To enjoy the rest of this story, please consider signing up for a subscription to The German View, our English-language channel on Substack. The article can be found here  and our Substack channel can be found here  . Alternatively, you can sign up for a SPIEGEL+ subscription below.

In all its splendor, the residence seems made for important events, events with external visibility. Yet on December 10, 2024, Alexander Vorontzov was preparing to open a confidential meeting at the site. The 60-year-old heads the influential First Directorate of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Russia's nerve center for international arms deals.

Light snow was falling outside that day, while inside, roughly 80 high-ranking representatives from Russia and China discussed their nations' struggle against the West – military officers, representatives of arms companies and government agencies, some important enough to be flown to the venue on a government plane.