Overview

• The appellate panel rejected defense challenges and left the first‑instance rulings in place, keeping both defendants in custody.
• Investigators say Chernykh and Bobrov are co-defendants in a large-scale fraud case alleging theft of a 508 million‑ruble subsidy, with testimony from former regional housing utilities minister Nikolai Smirnov, while the accused deny wrongdoing.
• Their pretrial detention was set through November 15 by the Verkh-Isetsky District Court in late September.
• Searches were conducted in Moscow on September 23 at addresses tied to Oblkommunenergo and its unit OTSK; OTSK executive Artyom Noskov was later released in court, and former vice governor Oleg Chemezov was jailed on September 30 in the same case.
• In a parallel civil case on October 10, a Yekaterinburg district court granted the Prosecutor General’s claim to transfer 75% of Oblkommunenergo shares held by SUENKO to the state as part of a wider series of asset seizure actions.