Top Manager Of The Largest Tank Factory Arrested In Russia
- 28.05.2026, 8:48
For embezzling and cashing in on government defense contracts.
The Basmanny Court of Moscow has arrested Deputy Director General of Uralvagonzavod Concern for special equipment Dmitri Semizorov for two months, RBC reports, citing sources. The top manager of Russia's largest manufacturer of railroad cars and a key supplier of tanks for the army was accused of embezzlement on a particularly large scale during the fulfillment of the state defense order (part 4 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The case itself was opened back in the fall of 2025 and dates back to the period when Semizorov headed the Central Research Institute of Precision Machine Building (TsNIITOCHMASH), one of the key enterprises of the military-industrial complex, which develops small arms, ammunition and equipment for law enforcement agencies.
According to the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, in 2016 TsNIITOCHMASH agreed with FSK Progress LLC to supply climate control equipment under the state defense order. The amount of the deal was about 130 million rubles, while the real value of the equipment, according to the law enforcers' estimates, did not exceed 80 million. The participants of the criminal scheme embezzled about 50 million rubles of the difference and subsequently cashed these funds, the investigation believes. Semizorov, who headed TsNIITOCHMASH from 2012 to 2018, did not admit guilt and said he was slandered by other defendants in the case who testified against him.
RBC reports that two other defendants in the case denounced the 60-year-old Semizorov. One of them is under a ban on certain actions, while the other has been sent under house arrest.
Semizorov's defense asked for a more lenient preventive measure, citing the defendant's health condition (hypertension, uncontrolled arterial hypertension and chronic diseases requiring medical supervision) and the presence of a number of state awards.
Semizorov's characterization, written by Uralvagonzavod, states that under his leadership the concern's enterprises "in the shortest possible time were switched to a special mode of operation after the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine, and deliveries of in-demand armaments and military equipment for the Defense Ministry and Rosgvardia were carried out ahead of schedule."
The SKR nevertheless stressed that, according to the investigators' version, the crime of the alleged attackers jeopardized the country's defense capability. Semizorov faces up to 10 years in prison.