Ex-Chelyabinsk Deputy Governor’s Fraud Case Sent to Court as New Culture Procurement Probe Opens

Overview

• Investigators say Aleksandr Ufimtsev and three accomplices illegally secured a five-hectare federal forest plot near Lake Uvildy in 2009–2010 and built nine cottages registered to private individuals.
• Courts invalidated the related land deals and the parcel was returned to state ownership, with damage to the regional forestry authority assessed at over 2 million rubles.
• Ufimtsev was placed on an international wanted list in 2018 and was detained in August 2025 while attempting to cross a border, and a residential property worth more than 3.3 million rubles was seized to secure civil claims.
• Separately, a new case alleges the former head of Chelyabinsk’s culture committee ordered a contract for park attractions exceeding 86 million rubles despite planned demolition and overvaluation concerns.
• Searches are underway at the suspect’s residence, investigators are weighing charges and restraint measures, and RIA cites a law-enforcement source identifying the suspect as Eleonora Khalikova.