A Moscow military court has sentenced former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov to 19 years in a maximum-security prison for embezzling 25.8 million rubles from the Patriot military park. The 235th garrison military court handed down the verdict on April 10.
The court also stripped Popov of his army general rank and eight state decorations — seven orders and one medal, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported. He was fined 85 million rubles, and the court ordered the confiscation of an additional 45.6 million rubles in favor of the state.
Popov, 69, was not present in the courtroom during sentencing due to his health, the Russian state news agency TASS reported. He attended the hearing by video link from his pretrial detention center.
Prosecutors had sought a 22-year sentence, a fine of 130 million rubles, and the stripping of his military rank.
Popov did not admit guilt. In his final statement, Kommersant reported, he asked the court to take into account his service record and contributions to the development of Russia’s Defense Ministry, as well as the fact that he appears on nearly every international sanctions list.
His defense attorney, Denis Sagach, said he would appeal the verdict and push for a medical examination to establish that Popov is unfit to serve his sentence. “The verdict against my client will be appealed, as it is unlawful and unsubstantiated,” he said.
President Vladimir Putin dismissed Popov as deputy defense minister in June 2024. He was detained in August of that year and charged with embezzlement.
Popov faced five charges: large-scale fraud, falsification of official documents, two counts of large-scale bribery, abuse of office, and illegal weapons trafficking.
The central episode in the case was the embezzlement of budget funds allocated to the Patriot military park. Investigators said Popov used the stolen money to build a country house outside Moscow.
Also charged in connection with the embezzlement were Vladimir Shesterov, a former deputy head of the Defense Ministry’s main directorate for innovation development, and Vyacheslav Akhmedov, who at the time served as director of the Patriot park. Both men admitted guilt and testified against Popov. In August 2025, they were sentenced to six and five years in prison, respectively.
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