Accusations of Russian spying, vandalism and ethnic intimidation rattle Shadyside neighborhood

A March 17 news release from Pittsburgh Police didn’t contain much information. It said officers were “investigating several incidents of harassment and intimidation” at a house in Shadyside, provided some photos of the suspects, and added that the FBI had been notified.

What happened next didn’t follow the typical narrative for cases like this.

The police charged a prominent architect and his wife with ethnic intimidation. The couple — Rob Pfaffmann, 66, and his wife, Lisa Marie Haabestad, 64 — live in Shadyside and are known for their civic endeavors.

The homeowner on the other end of the alleged harassment, Vasily Potanin, might be even less predicable. He is a 23-year-old graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University who happens to be the son of Russia’s richest business tycoon, a man who has deep ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Through their lawyer, Pfaffmann and Haabestad have declined to comment in the matter.

“At my direction, no comments regarding the pending criminal charges will be made,” said Jon Pushinsky, the couple’s lawyer. “There has been no determination that either one of my clients has done anything unlawful. They remain innocent in the eyes of the law.”

But Potanin has come forward to describe his version of events. He is happy to talk about why he believes he is being targeted for his ethnicity, why he opposes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite his father — and, perhaps most interestingly, why he adorns his $1.2 million home in one of the city’s most elegant neighborhoods with pro-Trump and anti-Biden flags and signs.

Accusations of spying

The case got started in late February. Potanin said that’s when he and his neighbor, who share a driveway, began to suffer harassment. People were storming up to his house and accusing them of being Russian spies.

Potanin has lived in Shadyside for five years, and bought his house on Amberson Avenue in 2019. He was born in Russia, grew up in Moscow, and immigrated to America as a teenager when his parents divorced nearly a decade ago.

Potanin said people earlier this year threw a bag of rice into the yard with a letter attached, accusing him of being an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and saying he should be expelled from CMU and he should leave the neighborhood.

“Getting letters targeting your nationality, it doesn’t make you sleep easier,” Potanin said.

Potanin is conservative. He said he reads The Wall Street Journal and enjoys Ben Shapiro’s podcast, a show known for making fun of liberals. Even though he supports conservative causes in the U.S., Potanin is not a citizen and can’t vote in elections.

Regardless, he said he wants to share his beliefs, and that’s why he flies banners and flags showcasing support for police officers, sometimes mocking liberals, and in support of former President Trump.

Potanin’s home in Shadyside sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s charming like many houses on Amberson Avenue, complete with a pleasant front garden and comfortable back patio. But his yard decorations are out of place for the neighborhood.

Signs picturing Trump with the caption “Miss Me Yet?” protrude out of the grass. A blue and red “Let’s Go Brandon” flag flies high on a silver flag pole. (Let’s Go Brandon is a euphemism for a profane insult of President Biden.) Another sign placed on the gate mocks well-known liberal yard signs that promote inclusivity, many of which can be seen throughout Pittsburgh’s East End.

Potanin does this in unfriendly waters, however, as Shadyside is generally a liberal bastion in Pittsburgh. The neighborhood voted overwhelmingly against Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

That section of Shadyside is also one of the wealthier enclaves in the city, according to property values. But most residents don’t make a huge display of their politics, whatever the view.

Somewhat unsurprisingly though, Potanin’s home has caused some controversy in the past. He said some of his yard signs were vandalized before the 2020 election. He didn’t really mind, and said it was simple to replace them.

“If someone breaks my sign, it is silly and inconsequential,” Potanin said.

Even so, he acknowledged his tactics might antagonize some of his neighbors, but he said it’s all done in good humor. For Potanin, that was sort of the point.

“There is hypocrisy in people disagreeing and vandalizing my signs but saying they are tolerant,” Potanin said.

Escalating disputes in the neighborhood

At some point in 2020, he said he received an anonymous letter criticizing him for supporting Trump, but then things cooled down after the election.

It started to escalate again after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. That’s when Potanin said he was targeted with a letter attached to a bag of rice, the letter accusing him of being a Russian spy. He said another in-person encounter had people shouting “F—- Putin” at him from the sidewalk and they told him to go back to Russia.

The third time was when one of Potanin’s yard signs allegedly was tampered with. After the third incident within a month, Potanin contacted police to lodge a complaint.

The Pittsburgh Police investigated and released video footage showing a couple yelling outside of Potanin’s home, and a woman tampering with a sign Potanin had placed on his gate.

Police are investigating several incidents of harassment and intimidation at the same address on an undisclosed block in Shadyside over recent weeks. Detectives are hoping to identify the individuals in these photos.
Info? (412) 422-6520.
More here ➡️ https://t.co/hVXLsiHubS pic.twitter.com/VE2XL2scSN

— Pittsburgh Police (@PghPolice) March 17, 2022

On March 24, Haabestad and Pfaffmann were charged with ethnic intimidation, a misdemeanor, and summary charges of criminal mischief and conspiracy. Potanin said that Haabestad and Pfaffmann were “obsessed” with him. He said they even visited CMU a couple of times to protest.

This was all happening after sanctions against Russia imposed by the U.S. government and a series of actions from American institutions to divest from Russia. Pennsylvania, for example, banned Russian vodka and other spirits from the shelves of state-run liquor stores.

The anti-Russia sentiment hit a bit of a fever pitch when Feb. 24, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said during a CNN interview that expelling Russian students from U.S. universities should be “on the table” in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Swalwell, who formerly ran for president, largely was criticized for his suggestion, but nevertheless, the idea gained a foothold in some circles.

The sign that was vandalized at Potanin’s home was a conservative sign mocking the liberal yard signs that usually read “in this house, we believe…” followed by well-trodden liberal causes like Black Lives Matter and support for LGBTQ rights.

According to a Feb. 27 post on Pfaffmann’s Facebook page, he and Haabestad are seen in a selfie next to a self-made sign that reads “We believe, in democracy for Ukraine. Carnegie Mellon, expel corrupt Trumputin oligarchs” and then a URL for the Wikipedia page for Vladimir Potanin, Vasily Potanin’s father.

Pfaffmann’s Facebook page mostly showcases activity in Pittsburgh’s liberal activist community, known for advocating for issues like better air quality, affordable housing and bike and pedestrian safety.

But, on Feb. 24, the same day as Swalwell made news for suggesting expelling Russian students, a post on Pfaffmann’s Facebook page reads: “Trump and Putin Oligarchs among us: Vladimir Potanin owns Shadyside real estate and his son is/was at CMU!!” and then background on how Vladimir Potanin became rich and his close ties to Putin.

But Pfaffmann’s post was only partially correct. Vladimir Potanin is a Russian billionaire who, in 2018, was listed as an oligarch with close ties to Putin by the U.S. Treasury Department. According to Bloomberg, Vladimir Potanin is also the wealthiest man in Russia as of May 2022. He generated much of his wealth through the acquisition and ownership of Norilsk Nickel, a large nickel and palladium mining company.

Vladimir Potanin is also Vasily Potanin’s father, but he doesn’t own the Shadyside home. Vasily Potanin is listed on property records, and he said he purchased the home. Allegheny County property records show Vasily Potanin bought the home for $1.24 million in April 2019.

Additionally, Potanin said he is estranged from his father and has been for many years. According to Insider, Potanin’s mother Natalia Potanina said in 2016 that Vladimir allegedly hadn’t spoken to his son since he left the family home in 2013 after serving divorce papers.

“He is not involved here whatsoever, my relationship with him is not people’s business,” said Potanin of his father. “He is not related to anything here, you want to criticize him? Fine, I might join you one day.”

‘I clearly like being here’

After immigrating to the U.S. in 2014, Potanin said he went to high school in Long Island, N.Y., and then stayed in the country after his mother moved to London. He enrolled at Carnegie Mellon and enjoyed Pittsburgh enough to buy a home in 2019.

He said he likes Pittsburgh’s size and access to amenities like parks, without having the traffic and congestion associated with other, larger cities. He also enjoys road tripping across America, and exalted the country’s interstate highway system, which he said is better than Russia’s. Potanin has visited 45 U.S. states.

“I clearly like being here, because I am here,” said Potanin. “It’s a city where everything you need can be had without driving for an hour.”

Potanin said he also disagreed with Russia and Putin’s actions in invading Ukraine and called Putin’s targeting of civilians “evil.”

“If I really was a spy, I probably would have changed my name, and not talk with as much as a Russian accent,” said Potanin, who said that openly criticizing Russia in the press likely would lead to consequences for him if he were to return.

In the end, Potanin has been grateful for many of his neighbors. He said they don’t always agree with his yard signs, but they have spoken to him and offered their support.

He said one of the reasons he likes the U.S. is the freedom to express one’s views without punishment or discrimination.

“You don’t get to discriminate against people, even if you don’t like them,” Potanin said.