Law enforcement officials announced on Monday that they have detained the acting deputy governor of Russia’s Kursk region, whom media sources claim is under suspicion for misappropriating funds allocated for border fortifications in the Belgorod region.
Alexander Khinshtein, the acting governor of Kursk, confirmed the arrest of his deputy, Vladimir Bazarov, in a post on Telegram, noting that the investigation pertains to Bazarov’s previous role as the deputy governor responsible for construction in Belgorod. Khinshtein stated, “Initial reports indicate that the case relates to the construction of defensive structures.”
Bazarov became the deputy governor of Belgorod in 2020, after serving as deputy governor and head of the government in Sevastopol, Crimea, before assuming his current position in Kursk in February.
The Investigative Committee of Russia, which addresses serious crimes, has yet to issue a statement regarding his detention.
According to the state-run news agency TASS, which cited sources within law enforcement, Bazarov is facing accusations similar to those brought against other former officials in Belgorod connected to the embezzlement of funds designated for border fortifications. It is anticipated that he will be transferred to Moscow for additional questioning.
In response to worries about a potential Ukrainian military incursion, the Russian government allocated billions of rubles for fortifications in both the Belgorod and Kursk regions. These concerns were validated in August 2024, when Ukraine launched an unexpected offensive in Kursk, seizing significant portions of land.
While Ukrainian forces refrained from a similar large-scale operation in Belgorod, they have conducted numerous small-scale raids, leading to skepticism regarding the efficacy of the expensive defense measures.
Estimates indicate that losses related to the Belgorod embezzlement case amount to approximately 1 billion rubles ($12.4 million).
Recently, another former deputy governor of Belgorod, Rustem Zainullin, along with several business leaders and construction companies, has been linked to a major fraud scheme involving border defense initiatives in Belgorod. Prosecutors are pursuing nearly 925 million rubles ($11.9 million) in damages from those implicated.
Additionally, the investigations surrounding border defenses have extended to the Kursk region, where former Governor Alexei Smirnov and his first deputy, Alexei Dedov, were apprehended earlier this year on charges of large-scale fraud.
Smirnov’s predecessor, Roman Starovoit, who later became the transportation minister, reportedly took his own life outside Moscow in July amidst allegations that he, too, was under investigation for the same embezzlement case.
