MOSCOW (WARINFO) — The ex-governor of Russia’s Kursk region, where portions were captured by Ukrainian troops in August 2024, was apprehended and accused of misappropriating funds intended for constructing defenses, according to an announcement from Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs on Thursday.
When Ukrainian troops launched a major assault crossing the border, Alexei Smirnov was leading the western region. Following this, a Russian counter-offensive successfully drove out most of the Ukrainian forces.
From May to December 2024, Smirnov headed the region until he was succeeded by Alexander Khinshtein. During this period, Smirnov was apprehended alongside his ex-deputy, Alexei Dedov. Subsequently, a Moscow court ordered Smirnov’s pre-trial detention for a duration of two months.
The interior ministry stated in a post made on Telegram that the accusations were related to monies that were designated for constructing defense facilities in the frontier region.
The report indicated that this case was connected to earlier arrests involving allegations of official misconduct against three Kursk region officials and businesspeople involved in constructing defense infrastructure. Initially, reports suggested that the estimated damage from that incident amounted to approximately 800 million rubles ($9.64 million).
Neither Smirnov nor anyone from his team was available for comments.
During the initial hours of Ukraine’s assault on Kursk in August, Smirnov continually provided reassurances that everything was under control. However, this was despite the fact that Russian border guards found themselves caught off guard and retreating due to the unexpected strike.
A few days afterward, Smirnov received a mild rebuke from President Vladimir Putin during a broadcasted encounter for concentrating on the military circumstances in his presentation to the nation’s leader instead of addressing the initiatives aimed at assisting the citizens in the Kursk area.
In the last year, Russia has arrested several prominent military figures, such as a previous deputy defense minister, as part of an increased number of major corruption investigations.
($1 = 82.9955 roubles)
(Reporting by WARINFO; Writing by Maxim Rodionov and Felix Light; edited by Mark Trevelyan, Matthew Lewis, and Mark Heinrich)
