Volkov Sergei Evgenievich

Volkov Sergei Evgenievich

Biography

2024: Sentence - 6 years in prison in the case of the purchase of drone protection systems for 395.4 million rubles

On January 16, 2024, the Second Western District Military Court sentenced Colonel Sergei Volkov, the former head of the marine department of the Russian Guard, to six years in a general regime colony, finding him guilty of involvement in the supply of low-quality radar systems.

The prosecution also petitioned for Volkov to be jailed for seven years. The maximum punishment under paragraph "c" of Part 3 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of Russia - ten years in prison. At the same time, the court did not deprive him of awards and military rank.

According to Kommersant, citing the case file, the Russian Guard in 2020 was supposed to acquire two radar complexes to protect the Crimean bridge from drones, as well as a gas pipeline laid from Krasnodar to Crimea and some other facilities. According to the investigation, Colonel Volkov, in order not to disrupt the task, instructed his subordinates to urgently prepare an application for the purchase of two Eagle-UAV complexes from the Rostov Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rostov-on-Don Research Institute of Radio Communications (RNIIRS).

According to investigators, the Rosgvardia officer knew that the Eagle-UAV complexes had truncated functionality, in connection with which they could not solve problems to combat small-class drones. As a result, the Russian Guard refused to use these drones a month after their commissioning.

Volkov pleaded not guilty. According to lawyer Volkov, the problem was that the modernized complex ordered by the colonel did not include "an additional unit that is engaged in the fight against aircraft."

In October 2021, the complexes were accepted by the commission, and payment under the state contract was made in full. For the first complex, Rosgvardia paid 237.2 million rubles, for the second - 158.3 million rubles.^[1]

Notes