Meshchansky court of Moscow on 17 April arrested Alexei Dedov, former deputy deputy governor of Russia’s Kursk Region Alexei Smirnov, for two months.
A day earlier Smirnov was arrested for the same term. Both are on trial in a criminal case of particularly large-scale fraud in the construction of defence structures on the border with Ukraine.
According to media reports, the detention of the former Russian officials may be related to the criminal case launched earlier against the former general director of the Kursk Region Development Corporation, Vladimir Lukin Vladimir Lukin. He is accused of particularly large-scale embezzlement during the construction of fortifications on the Russian-Ukrainian border.
In August 2024, Ukrainian troops on a wide front were able to break through into Kursk Region and occupied a significant part of the border territories. The AFU continues to hold a number of territories near the border.
Smirnov became acting governor of Kursk region in May 2024. Despite the AFU operation, he won the gubernatorial election, which was held in September. However, as early as December, he resigned, allegedly of his own volition, and was replaced by Alexander Khinshtein, an influential member of the Russian State Duma.
Following Khinshtein’s appointment, cases were opened regarding probable embezzlement in the construction of fortifications. It is alleged that, according to investigators, budget losses as a result of fraudulent actions during the construction of fortifications totalled about 800 million rubles.