Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Sentenced To 19 Years Of Strict Regime
- 10.04.2026, 15:52
The official was found guilty of stealing 25.8 million Russian rubles.
The 235th garrison military court sentenced former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov to 19 years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold positions in the civil service and self-government for 7 years. Judge Artyom Karpov found him guilty of taking bribes, fraud, illegal possession of weapons, official forgery and exceeding his official powers. Popov must also pay a fine of 85 million rubles. The court also stripped him of his rank of army general and state awards, writes RBC.
The army general did not plead guilty to any of the charges. During the announcement of the verdict he took part in the session via video link, he was allowed not to stand up during the announcement due to his health condition.
In the course of the arguments the state prosecutor requested 22 years in a strict regime colony and a 130 million ruble fine for Popov.
The trial was held in closed mode at the request of the military prosecutor, because according to him, the case file contains data representing official secrets.
The court found that in 2022-2024, Popov, as well as deputy head of the Main Department of Innovative Development Vladimir Shesterov and director of the Patriot Military Patriotic Park Vyacheslav Akhmedov knowingly entered false information into documentation about construction work performed in the park and committed a multimillion-dollar embezzlement of budget funds.
The investigation claimed that Popov, during a walk in the park, using his official position, ordered his subordinates to erect on his site the same cabins made of calibrated logs that were built for guests on the territory of "Patriot". With the help of Shesterov and Akhmedov, he organized the construction of a two-story residential house, a bathhouse, living quarters, a garage, a fence and the installation of a video surveillance system on his own plot in the Zvezda SNT near Krasnogorsk. Among other things, the budget funds allocated for the park were used to buy furniture and plumbing fixtures.
The Investigative Committee estimates that the total amount of stolen funds amounted to 25.8 million rubles.