He was the governor of Russia’s Kursk region when Ukraine launched a surprise incursion. Now, Alexey Smirnov is in jail facing embezzlement charges.
On Wednesday, a Moscow court jailed former Kursk Governor Alexey Smirnov on charges of embezzling funds allocated to the region’s defenses on the border with Ukraine. According to Internal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Irina Volk, Smirnov and his former deputy, Alexey Dedov, are both suspected of large-scale fraud while in office. Smirnov reportedly maintains his innocence.
Smirnov and Dedov have been charged with embezzling more than 1 billion rubles ($12.1 million) in public funds allocated to the Kursk Region Development Corporation for constructing fortifications along the border with Ukraine, said Volk. The two regional officials allegedly colluded with development corporation executives to steal the public funds. Police had already arrested three executives from the development corporation and the heads of several companies that received funds without performing the contracted work.
Smirnov served as governor of the Kursk region from May to December 2024, after previously serving as the region’s deputy governor. He succeeded Roman Starovoit, who was promoted to head Russia’s Transportation Ministry. During Smirnov’s tenure, the Ukrainian Armed Forces invaded Kursk in August 2024 and occupied part of the region. According to sources cited by the newspaper Vedomosti and multiple anonymous Telegram channels, Vladimir Lukin, the former CEO of the Kursk Region Development Corporation, testified against Smirnov while in police custody. (Police arrested Lukin in December 2024 on related embezzlement charges.)
Construction of fortified defense lines in the Kursk region began more than two years ago. In October 2022, then-Governor Roman Starovoit reported that two defense lines had been completed and promised the third would be ready by November 5. “We are prepared to repel any incursions on our territory,” Starovoit’s administration declared.
