Defense initiative: why the ex-head of the Kursk region was arrested

Alexey Smirnov, ex-governor of the Kursk Region, and Alexey Dedov, his first deputy, have been charged with fraud in the amount of more than 1 billion rubles, the Interior Ministry said. According to investigators, they, together with the leadership of the Kursk Region Development Corporation, organized the embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine. On the evening of April 16, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow sent Smirnov to jail for two months. He may face up to ten years in prison for fraud, but during the investigation, the number of articles of the Criminal Code that he will be charged with may increase, lawyers believe. The details of the case are in the Izvestia article.

What was the ex-head of the Kursk region detained for?

Irina Volk, the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, reported on her Telegram channel that Alexey Smirnov, the ex-governor of the Kursk Region, and Alexey Dedov, his first deputy, were charged with embezzlement.

"The former officials were detained as part of a criminal investigation into the embezzlement of budget funds in the amount of more than 1 billion rubles. They were allocated by Kursk Region Development Corporation JSC for the construction of fortifications on the region's border with Ukraine," she said.

On the evening of April 16, the Moscow Meshchansky Court sent Alexey Smirnov to jail for two months. His lawyers requested a more lenient measure of restraint for him, not related to detention, but the court refused this request.

During the investigation, it was previously established that the defendants in the case managed the members of an organized group and, together with the management of the Kursk Region Development Corporation, organized the embezzlement of budget funds, Irina Volk said.

A source familiar with the investigation added that Vladimir Lukin, the previously arrested former CEO of the Kursk Region Development Corporation, testified against Smirnov.

Large-scale detentions of officials and businessmen associated with this structure began in December 2024. First, the Leninsky District Court of Kursk arrested Igor Grabin, the former deputy general director of the corporation, for two months. The investigation indicated that from February 2023 to September 2024, the official performed administrative and economic functions related to the management, disposal of property and finances. He was accused of unjustifiably spending money intended for the construction of fortifications. The case was opened under the article on abuse of official authority.

Two weeks later, the same court chose a measure of restraint for the head of the corporation, Vladimir Lukin, on charges of abuse of office. According to investigators, when working with investors in 2023, he ordered one of his subordinates to conclude a construction contract with a commercial organization in the border area of the region and pay for its execution. It was established that by that time all the work had already been done by another company, whose services had been fully paid for. As a result, more than 173 million rubles were illegally squandered from the regional budget, the prosecutor's office believes.

In January 2025, Denis Fedorov, director of Trading House Kursk LLC, was arrested for embezzlement of more than 43.5 million rubles allocated for the construction of fortifications, the united press service of the judicial system of the region reported. According to the investigation, he committed the theft of funds intended for the performance of work.

At the same time, as Izvestia wrote, the Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit to recover damage of 3 billion rubles caused during the conclusion of state contracts for the construction of protective structures in the Kursk region. In particular, we are talking about dugouts, firing points, strong points and anti-tank pyramids.

Requirements of the Prosecutor's Office

Already in March 2025, the court granted the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office and recovered more than 4.1 billion rubles from former officials who headed the Kursk Region Development Corporation.

According to the supervisory authority, from 2022 to 2023, 19.4 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget to the government of the region for the construction of structures to "protect the country from the military aggression of Ukraine."

Since October 2022, a special regime for the functioning of government bodies has been introduced in the region, the Prosecutor General's Office recalled at the time. Among other things, it allows you to make purchases without conducting auction procedures.

On the instructions of Alexey Smirnov, the Kursk Region Development Corporation was designated as the general contractor for the construction of fortifications. It is a joint-stock company controlled by the regional government. Vladimir Lukin has been its director since October 2021, Igor Grabin has been his deputy since August 2022, and Snezhana Martyanova has been his deputy since January 2023.

Lukin, Grabin and Martianova were required to independently form a list of main contractors and distribute among them the types of work on the construction of protective structures, "as well as to make decisions on the payment of contracts individually," the Prosecutor General's Office said in a lawsuit.

The investigation found that the suspects used their official position for personal purposes, as well as in the interests of trusted persons, that is, they engaged in illegal enrichment. As a result, the defendants "abused the high-alert regime in the Kursk region, which allowed them to work without competitive procedures." As a result, they inflated prices when concluding government contracts. To do this, Maxim Vasiliev, a deputy of the Kursk Regional Duma of the seventh convocation, was involved in their scheme.

Yuri Bessonov, an ex-deputy of the Kursk Regional Duma of the fifth convocation, Martinova's brother and Ivan Utkin, an entrepreneur from Moscow, also participated in the corruption scheme. The latter's company, Techimpex, has signed six contracts with the corporation and received more than 1.3 billion rubles of budget money.

In total, from 2022 to 2023, 23 contracts totaling 3.2 billion rubles were concluded with the assistance of the corporation's officials. "In turn, Vasiliev, Bessonov, Martianov, Fedorov and Utkin transferred 25% of the total amount of the agreements to Lukin, Grabin and Martianova as a reward. That is, at least 805 million rubles for their illegal assistance in concluding contracts and receiving budget funds," the Prosecutor General's Office reported.

Also in March of this year, a criminal case was opened into fraud in excess of 156 million rubles. According to Irina Volk, the investigation suspected officials of the Kursk Region Development Corporation and two other commercial organizations of him: they signed contracts for the production and supply of concrete pyramids intended for the construction of barrier lines.

What is the threat of fraud

If the alleged schemes took place in coordination with the ex-governor, then depending on his participation, he may be charged with various official offenses, as well as fraud, Alexey Gavrishev, head of AVG Legal, explained to Izvestia.

"If the withdrawal of funds through front organizations is confirmed, the terms may be more than ten years in prison," he said.

The scheme of violating the law when conducting tenders is not at all new, said Ilya Vasilchuk, a judicial lawyer. Law enforcement agencies regularly identify such schemes, and the courts bring the perpetrators to justice.

"In 2018, two special articles 200.4 and 200.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation appeared in the criminal law of the Russian Federation, which introduced separate liability for abuses in the field of procurement," the expert said. — They provide for liability in the form of imprisonment for up to ten years and a fine.

If one of the persons who committed the crime actively contributed to the detection and investigation of the crime, he may be released from criminal liability. This rule, according to Ilya Vasilchuk, is aimed at speeding up the investigation and increasing the likelihood of disclosure.

"I do not rule out that the detention of the ex—governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, is precisely due to the active repentance of one of the defendants in this criminal case," he stressed. — Moreover, the "bouquet" of articles of the Criminal Code, according to which he can be prosecuted, is quite large.

In particular, the expert highlighted articles on abuse of official authority, abuse of official authority in the execution of a state defense order, violation by an official of the terms of the state defense contract, abuse of official authority, bribery and negligence.

According to Maxim Kalinov, a criminal defense lawyer, Smirnov faces a sentence of up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million rubles under the fraud article.