Former governor of Kursk region arrested on fraud charges

Another criminal case has been opened against high-ranking politicians in Russia. On April 16, Russian news agencies reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained former governor of Kursk region Alexei Smirnov and his former first deputy Alexei Dedov.

According to the articles, they are accused of embezzling funds allocated for the construction of defense facilities. Smirnov was detained in Moscow, and Dedov in Kursk.

Court ruled
The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow decided to place Smirnov in pretrial detention for 2 months. According to official sources, the investigation is ongoing and there are serious suspicions of embezzlement of state funds in the case.

Political career
Alexey Smirnov came to the Kursk region in May 2024 as the interim head of the region, after Roman Starovoit was appointed Minister of Transport. Previously, he served as the chairman of the regional government and first deputy governor.

In August, a tense situation arose in the region bordering Ukraine, and Smirnov faced serious tests as a leader. In September, he won the election and was officially elected governor. However, in December, he resigned and announced that he would move to another job.

After that, the state leadership appointed Alexander Khinshtein - the former chairman of the Duma Information Policy Committee - as the new governor. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained this decision by the need to "effectively manage the crisis in the region." Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!