Russia jails ex-Kursk Oblast governor for 14 years over Ukraine border fortifications fraud
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Alexei Smirnov, a former governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, was sentenced to 14 years in maximum-security prison for bribery, state media reported on April 6.
Smirnov served as the governor of Kursk Oblast from May to December 2024, a period during which Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into the border region and occupied part of its territory until March 2025.
He and his former deputy, Alexei Dedov, were arrested in April 2025 on charges of embezzling funds earmarked for the construction of fortifications.
Smirnov reached a plea deal last September and admitted receiving over 20 million rubles ($250,000) in kickbacks from contractors. A corresponding sum was confiscated from him as part of the court's ruling.
The ex-official was also fined 400 million rubles ($5 million), stripped of a state award, and barred from holding public office for 10 years, according to a district court ruling in Kursk.
Smirnov called the prison sentence "disproportionate, given the plea agreement."
"The number of years being requested... I don't think I even have that much life left in me," the 52-year-old ex-official said during the hearing, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
Prosecutors have asked for a 15-year prison sentence and a fine of 500 million rubles ($6 million).
Smirnov was preceded as Kursk Oblast governor by Roman Starovoit, who later served as Russia's transport minister.
Starovoit died by apparent suicide in July 2025, shortly after he was dismissed as minister. Russian media linked Starovoit's dismissal to the Kursk Oblast fortifications embezzlement case.
