The Odintsovo City Court of the Moscow Region sentenced Vyacheslav Akhmedov, the former director of the Ministry of Defense's Patriot Park in the Moscow region, to five years in a general regime penal colony and a fine of 300 thousand rubles, reported the SOTAvision* correspondent from the courtroom.
During the trial, the prosecution emphasized the importance of Akhmedov providing investigators with information about previously unknown figures in the case and voluntarily compensating half a million rubles.
According to the investigation, in 2022-2024, Vyacheslav Akhmedov, former Deputy Minister of Defense Pavel Popov, and former Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of Innovative Development of the Ministry of Defense Major General Vladimir Shesterov embezzled over 27 million rubles intended for the construction of the Patriot Park.
On July 17, the court sentenced Major General Vladimir Shesterov to six years in a penal colony, who, along with Akhmedov, entered into a pre-trial agreement with the investigation and testified against the third figure in the case, former Deputy Minister of Defense General Pavel Popov.
In his final statement, Akhmedov said that he "was in a service dependency on Popov and Shesterov" and that it was based on his testimony that a separate criminal case was initiated against Popov under the article on abuse of power, and he asked for a sentence not related to imprisonment.
* Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent".
Photo: SOTAvision