Former Kursk Governor arrested over embezzlement of budget funds allocated for Kursk region defense

Former governor of Russia's Kursk Region, Alexey Smirnov, has been detained along with his former first deputy, Alexey Dedov, in connection with a criminal case involving the embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the construction of defense fortifications.

Smirnov was detained in Moscow on April 15, while Dedov was arrested the same day in Kursk. According to RBC sources familiar with the case, the arrests are linked to the alleged misappropriation of funds meant for building defensive structures in the region.

Smirnov was appointed governor of Kursk in May 2024, after his predecessor, Roman Starovoit, was appointed Minister of Transport. During Starovoit's tenure, Smirnov served as first deputy and chaired the regional government.

In August 2024, while Smirnov was in office, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched incursions into border areas of the Kursk Region. He was elected governor in September with 65.28% of the vote, but resigned in December, stating he was moving to a new position.

Following his resignation, Starovoit criticized Smirnov's lack of communication with residents, particularly regarding social support. Alexander Khinshtein, a former State Duma committee chair on information policy, was appointed acting governor to provide crisis management, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

In December 2024, Vladimir Lukin, head of the Kursk Region Development Corporation, was detained in a related case. He was accused of abuse of office. Dedov was initially a witness in this investigation.

Authorities allege that Lukin and his team embezzled over 3.2 billion rubles by signing fake contracts with shell companies that staged construction work and funneled funds through one-day firms. In March, former corporation executives were ordered to repay a total of 4.1 billion rubles.

Details

Kursk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kursk. As of the 2021 census, Kursk Oblast had a population of 1,082,458.