Overview
- Eight people tied to an Ivanovo-based criminal community were convicted for illegal logging, extortion, and illegal possession of weapons and explosives, with seven receiving prison terms from three to 17 years and one a suspended sentence.
- The court assessed damage to the forest fund at more than 30 million rubles and cited extortion demands exceeding 29 million rubles targeting timber and passenger transport businesses.
- Investigators reported the seizure of five automatic rifles, a homemade pistol, multiple magazines and stocks, eight hand grenades, four anti-tank grenades, six fuzes, and 669 rounds of ammunition.
- A well-known local businessman designated as an organizer failed to appear for sentencing, was declared wanted by the court, and received 13 years in a strict-regime colony plus a 1.5 million ruble fine.
- In a separate case, a court sentenced Dmitry Levchenko to eight years and Andrey Grunin to five years for large-scale fraud on 2022–2023 defense contracts, with each fined 500,000 rubles and more than 470 million rubles secured for repayment to the Defense Ministry.