Ex-Lawmaker Sentenced for Embezzlement Linked to Border Defense Corruption

A judge in the southwestern Kursk region handed down a 5.5-year prison sentence to former regional lawmaker Maxim Vasilyev on Friday, following charges of embezzlement linked to failures in border defense construction that facilitated Ukraine’s unexpected incursion across the border.

Vasilyev is part of a larger group of at least 11 officials and business leaders implicated in similar cases after Ukrainian troops seized significant areas of the Kursk region in August 2024, prompting an investigation into the state of border defenses.

He was accused of misappropriating millions of rubles that were designated for defense initiatives and of making additional payments to the former deputy governor of the Kursk region, who is alleged by prosecutors to have been operating an «organized group» in conjunction with former Governor Alexei Smirnov.

The Leninsky District Court convicted Vasilyev of large-scale embezzlement, as reported by the press service of the Kursk regional court system.

In addition to his prison term, Vasilyev received an 800,000 ruble ($10,100) fine and was ordered to reimburse 152.8 million rubles ($1.9 million) to a regional construction firm as part of a separate civil lawsuit.

Vasilyev accepted his guilt and agreed to a plea bargain.

According to the court’s press service, the sentence against Vasilyev has not yet become final and remains subject to appeal.

After facing public backlash for vacationing abroad during the conflict, Vasilyev resigned in 2023 and has since expressed a desire to travel to Ukraine as a volunteer fighter.