A former top official with Russia’s Ministry of Defense was sentenced to 19 years in the gulag Friday on charges of doing something – whatever it was is not clear – to piss off dictator Vladimir Putin who then ordered him prosecuted over what had to be previously permitted graft, Reuters reports.
Former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov’s paper crime was embezzling funds meant for “Patriot Park” – an exposition center that in 2024 the AP described as Russia’s “military Disneyland,” and a pet project of former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to showcase USSR and Russian Federation history and weaponry – and spending it on renovations for his homes in and around Moscow. Not exactly the most mind-blowing of scams in a country where the government officials who aren’t regularly embezzling from public funds are the ones who you need to treat with suspicion.
Thus leaving us with a gap to fill on what “crime” Popov was really guilty of. Maybe he had a bit too much vodka and ogled one of Vlad’s mistresses’ cleavage at a party or something. The boss is petty.