Hadat Cosmetics: how Russians invented a premium "Israeli" brand

In September 2026, Ukrainian law enforcement uncovered an organized group that, according to investigators, had established large-scale illegal production and distribution of the falsified drug Biopatid throughout Ukraine. Ukrainian journalists had previously written about Maria Trifonova, the owner of a Kyiv clinic, who, according to investigators, is the leader of the organized criminal group. The journalists’ reports also served as a catalyst for the investigation.

According to investigators, the falsified drug contained the active substance tirzepatide, but was sold without the necessary documents, state registration or proper certification.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the cost of the main materials was around $17 per unit, while the finished drug was sold for up to $1,200.

According to preliminary information from law enforcement, products worth more than $5 million had been manufactured since the beginning of 2026.

The next high-profile case in Ukraine and the EU will be the story of Hadat Cosmetics. This is an Israeli brand with Russian roots that, as the official website claims, was supposedly founded in 2016 by an Israeli hairdresser, Sophie Hadat. However, according to official records, HADAT COSMETICS LTD (516404423) was registered on 30 May 2021.

There was no Sophie Hadat among the founders of this company. Ever. Moreover, this supposedly “famous” Sophie Hadat is absent from social media, has never participated in any events anywhere, and there is not a single photo or video of her, including on HADAT COSMETICS’ social media, and so on. Let us leave aside the fact that a hairdresser is not a chemist and could not, without an education, create or invent some breakthrough formulation in cosmetology.

In 2023 and 2024, Ukrainian media had already published a short investigation, according to which HADAT COSMETICS LTD was at that time managed by Boris Sapozhnikov, a Russian with an Israeli passport, and was owned, as of early 2024, by Israeli citizens Nissan Nissanov and Asaf Ilizarov, and Moldovan citizen Tatev Akopyan.

Over the past three years, the company has changed its registered address, its manager and the owners’ shareholdings, as Israeli registers also show.

Incidentally, attempts were made to remove this information, as well as information about Russian shareholders, from Ukrainian media in 2023–2024, but a copy survives in WebArchive.

There were also attempts to refute this information. In July 2023, covert paid publicity was published stating that “…In 2023, the publication Vgolos.ua published an article claiming that Hadat Cosmetics had Russian beneficiaries among the brand’s founders. The article discussed Boris Sapozhnikov, who holds citizenship and residence registration in Russia. The article also focused on the possible payment of taxes to the budget of the Russian Federation from sales of cosmetic products. Refuting the scandalous accusations was quite easy. At present, there are no citizens of the Russian Federation among the founders of Hadat. In addition, the company’s head office is located in Riga, and cosmetic products are imported into Ukraine through Europe, rather than through the aggressor country. Hadat’s production is now entirely concentrated in Israel. Raw materials and packaging materials are also supplied through European channels.”

The first question: who really stands behind the “Israeli” HADAT COSMETICS LTD, and are there owners with Russian citizenship?

Meet the main owner of HADAT COSMETICS LTD: the Russian Nissan Nisanov, or more precisely Nisan Yakhlyavich Nisanov, born on 18 October 1994, who obtained an Israeli passport “through ancestry.” Judging by his surname, his relatives are from Armenia or Azerbaijan.

Nisan Yakhlyavich Nisanov (taxpayer identification number 772984636569), born in Moscow.

Passport 4514844520, issued on 18 November 2014 by the branch of the Russian Federal Migration Service Directorate for Moscow in the Prospekt Vernadskogo district (division code 770-069).

This owner lives (is registered) at 57 Udaltsova Street, Moscow. He lives permanently in the Russian capital, uses services at various establishments, including medical facilities, registers Mercedes-Benz GLK-Klasse, Mazda and BMW cars, and so on. His wife and two children also live in Moscow. But very, very occasionally, Nisan Yakhlyavich flies to Israel).

In addition to his “Israeli” business, he also has business interests in Russia. After graduating from university, he was involved in microloans through LLC “MKK PROSHCHE PROSTOGO” and car leasing through LLC “ZALOGATOR GROUP,” but all the companies were liquidated.

In June 2024, Nisan Nisanov, the owner of the Israeli HADAT COSMETICS LTD, registered LLC “PRO Beauty” in Moscow, which has been engaged in the wholesale trade of perfumes and cosmetics since its foundation. And this LLC, as customs declarations show, works with practically only one supplier: HADAT COSMETICS LTD.

It also imports packaging for HADAT COSMETICS perfumery and cosmetic products from China, along with leather goods that are also sold under the HADAT COSMETICS name.

More on HADAT COSMETICS’ “manufacturing” a little later.

For now, let us turn to another shareholder: Daniel Vladislavovich Yunaev (28 February 1994), another “Israeli” Muscovite (passport 4519180170, issued by the Migration Affairs Division of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Department for Moscow’s Timiryazevsky district). Since Daniel Yunaev and Nisan Nisanov were born in the same year, it is possible that they were university classmates.

Incidentally, before the information scandal, before July 2024, it was individual entrepreneur Daniel Vladislavovich Yunaev who supplied his own Israeli products to Russia.

The third owner may also be a Russian woman with Armenian roots. We have her details, but they are still being checked. They will be published later.

And now, about manufacturing

There is no evidence (photos, videos or social media posts) of any visible HADAT COSMETICS manufacturing in Israel, and these products cannot be purchased in Israel itself. There is no information, including in Hebrew, as people write in Israeli online communities:

“Well, you are the second person who has heard anything about these products. From my digging, I understood that they simply registered it in Israel, but where it is actually made and what ingredients are used is completely unclear. But it is clearly not intended for the Israeli market. There is absolutely no information in Hebrew,” writes Varda Kaplan.

“The brand is registered in Israel. There are also reports and publications suggesting that the company may have links to markets and distribution through entities in Europe or Russia, while the visible offices/local representatives are registered, for example, in Riga, Latvia, and are used to serve the European market.

This is common practice: a brand is registered in one country, while manufacturing, warehousing or distribution takes place in another. This was explained to me in beauty salons where their products are sold. Manufacturing in Israel is too expensive for boutique products,” writes another woman from Israel.

“Here is what we have: an address in Petah Tikva. And I, as someone ready to travel to the far end of Israel for them, went on Google Maps and ChatGPT. It turns out there is no manufacturing there at all; it looks like an ordinary industrial area with a couple of lawyers’ offices,” writes Alina Zhernovetskaya in January 2026.

Indeed, Google Maps shows no manufacturing plant at the specified address.

Earlier batches from 2022 show Dats Premium Cosmetics LTD listed as the manufacturer.

A company that develops and manufactures high-quality, innovative cosmetics, creating its own formulas and manufacturing the product itself. At the same time, you can order your own brand from the company, as the Russians Nisan Nisanov and Co. did. While setting a product markup several times higher than at the manufacturing stage, inventing a beautiful story and promoting the goods through bloggers who tell that beautiful story.

In 2024, the packaging lists Biokor Metics LTD as the manufacturer, also located in Petah Tikva. It is possible that some of the products are manufactured at different factories.

All HADAT COSMETICS LTD products are routed through Russia and Moscow, through one official distributor, which distributes them to various countries, including European countries, and imports them into Ukraine.

As already noted, the products are (or were) imported into Russia by the Russian owners themselves, Daniel Yunaev and Nisan Nisanov, through their individual businesses and LLCs. No one else imports these products into the Russian Federation, which also raises questions. Meanwhile, the packaging and “cosmetic bags” are imported from China.

HADAT is imported into Europe through the Latvian company HD BEAUTY SIA. Before May 2022, this company was called SIA “AZ Consult” and was engaged in consulting. Khanikov Narmina is listed as the owner, an Israeli citizen, but with Azerbaijani roots. This probably refers to Narmina Vladimirovna Khanikova, born on 27 August 1981, from Moscow.

Judging by the figures, the accounting there is clearly not transparent.

We still have many questions, but we will answer them after receiving responses from law enforcement agencies, customs services in various countries, and agencies that inspect cosmetic products.

In upcoming articles, we will examine the ingredients of HADAT products, look at how much the crafty Russians with Armenian roots earn, how much the state budgets of various countries lose out on, and so on.

To be continued…)