Alexei Smirnov found guilty of taking bribes from firms contracted to build fortifications along Ukraine border.By AFP and DPAPublished On 6 Apr 20266 Apr 2026A Russian court has jailed the former governor of Kursk in a high-profile corruption case linked to Ukraine’s incursion into the border region.Alexei Smirnov was sentenced on Monday to 14 years in a penal colony after being found guilty of failing to ensure strong fortifications along the border due to corruption.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listUkrainian troops captured large swathes of land in a surprise offensive launched in August 2024, encountering little resistance, due in part to substandard Russian defences.The Kremlin then launched a crackdown targeting top regional and military officials over the failure to stop the incursion, which came two and a half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The former governor of Russia’s Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, stands inside a defendant’s cage during a hearing in Kursk on April 2, 2026 [Handout/Lininsky District Court of the city of Kursk/AFP]According to the verdict, the 52-year-old Smirnov – who pleaded guilty – had accepted bribes from construction firms contracted to build defensive fortifications.Media reports revealed that anti-tank barriers had been built using cheap materials that could not withstand Ukrainian military equipment.The court also imposed a fine of 400 million roubles ($4.9m) and a 10-year work ban.The court ruling said more than 20 million roubles ($220,000) were confiscated from Smirnov’s assets.Smirnov had become governor of Kursk in May 2024. In December of the same year, he resigned from office and was later remanded in custody. Advertisement Smirnov confessed and said his predecessor, Roman Starovoit, had recommended the practice of accepting bribes.Staravoit had been the one to report the completion of the defence facilities to his superiors. He then became Russia’s transport minister until Russia’s President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly dismissed him in July 2025.A short while later, he was found dead outdoors with a gun …
