Ivan Popov, a disgraced ex-commander of Russia's 58th Army fighting in Ukraine, was sentenced by a Russian military court to five years imprisonment over a large-scale fraud, Interfax news agency reported on April 24.
Popov was also stripped of his military rank as major general and fined 800,000 rubles ($9,600).
The ex-commander was arrested in May 2024 on suspicion of taking part in the theft of 1,700 metric tons of metal intended for building fortifications in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The fraud reportedly caused damages of 115 million rubles ($1.4 million).
Popov's co-defendant, businessman Sergei Moiseyev, was sentenced to four years and fined 600,000 rubles ($7,200).
Popov has pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal the verdict. The Russian media reported that he sought to avoid a prison sentence by requesting permission to return to the front in Ukraine.
He was expected to lead one of the Storm-Z detachments, a front-line assault group largely composed of convicts and known for high casualty rates, Kommerstant's source in security services claimed.
The court has denied this request, Popov's lawyer Sergei Buinovsky said, according to Interfax.
Popov was dismissed from his command in 2023 after he reportedly bypassed the command of Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov and attempted to directly appeal to the Kremlin over poor battlefield conditions.
Natalia Yermak
(Updated: )
