A Russian military court has sentenced Pavel Popov, a former deputy defense minister, to 19 years in prison for corruption, the state-run RIA news agency reported.
This is the harshest verdict so far in a series of similar cases that have shaken the very top of the Russian military establishment, Reuters reports.
Popov (69) was arrested in the summer of 2024 on suspicion of fraud related to the construction of Patriot Park, a war-themed tourist attraction near Moscow, where a large number of Russian and Soviet weapons are on display.
He pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer said he would appeal the verdict, according to the state news agency TASS. He was also fined 85 million rubles (about 940.000 euros).
Another former senior Defense Ministry official, Major General Vladimir Shesterov, was sentenced to six years in prison last July for fraud related to the park. Its director also faces trial.
Investigators allege that, starting in 2021, Popov diverted various construction materials from the park to his rural property.
He is among at least a dozen officials caught up in the biggest wave of corruption scandals to hit the Russian Defense Ministry in recent years.
All of those arrested are closely linked to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly dismissed two years ago and replaced with economist Andrei Belousov, in a move widely interpreted as an attempt to ensure tighter control over Russia's vast defense budget and crack down on waste and corruption.
Another former deputy defense minister, Timur Ivanov, was sentenced in July 2025 to 13 years in prison for accepting bribes and embezzlement.
A third, Ruslan Calikov, was charged with similar crimes last month.
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