The Nikulinsky Court in Moscow has sentenced Dmitry Kurakin to 17 years in a high-security penal colony on corruption charges. The court also imposed a fine of 369 million rubles, with Kurakin taken into custody immediately after the sentencing.
Kurakin is the former head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s property relations department and a former Deputy Prime Minister of the Moscow Region.
Two additional defendants in the case — Vladislav Kholodkov, the former head of Oboronles and Kurakin’s former deputy, and Maksim An, the former head of the Maltinsky Military Forestry Enterprise — received lengthy prison terms and substantial fines.
Charges and Allegations
According to Interfax, the charges include accepting large-scale bribes (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code), abuse of power (Part 3 of Article 285), illegal arms trafficking (Part 1 of Article 222), and organizing the illegal production of weapons (Part 3 of Article 33 – Part 1 of Article 223).
Investigators revealed that the defendants accepted bribes totaling at least 180 million rubles (or $1.7 million) from businesspeople in exchange for enabling unauthorized clear-cutting of forests in the Nizhneudinsk and Shelekhov military forestry areas of the Irkutsk region. The illegally harvested timber was reportedly sold for profit.
The damage caused to the Ministry of Defense was estimated to exceed 2 billion rubles ($ 19.2 million).
Arrest and Denial of Guilt
Kurakin, who was arrested in November 2020, has consistently denied any wrongdoing throughout the investigation and trial. However, the court found sufficient evidence to convict him and his co-defendants.
This high-profile case underscores the ongoing focus on tackling corruption within Russian governmental and military institutions.
