As a result of this highly controversial maneuver, Mr. Strzhalkovsky and other Russians lost billions. But in September 2013, they secured seats on the Bank of Cyprus board, meaning that Russia, for the first time, had effective control of a major European bank.

Unfortunately, said Mr. Neocleous, the lawyer, none of them knew anything about banking and they could not agree on ways to save the Bank of Cyprus from ruin. “None of them were bankers,” he said. “They could offer nothing.”

With the lender on the edge of bankruptcy, John Hourican, an Irishman who had been brought in as chief executive, insisted that the bank raise capital. Fearful that the bank might go under, the Russians and other shareholders reluctantly agreed to the plan, which would greatly dilute their ownership stakes.

The Bank of Cyprus held meetings in New York and London to drum up investor interest, attracting the attention of Mr. Ross, a veteran of investing in distressed assets who had turned a tidy profit rescuing the Bank of Ireland. He then assembled a group of investors who follow his lead in these matters because they view him as having the Midas touch.

But the bank conspicuously stayed away from Moscow.

Adonis Papaconstantinou, who leads a group of Laiki Bank creditors seeking to recover lost money, and who was once on the Bank of Cyprus board, said that the 2014 share issue was intended to make it difficult for Russians to invest and was skewed in favor of potential investors from the United States and Europe.

“Nobody could tell the Russians that they could not invest, but they are proud people and they could see that this was an attempt to keep them out — or at least minimize their influence,” said Mr. Papaconstantinou, who lost his seat on the bank’s board in the purge that started after Mr. Ross’s arrival.