The Second Western District Military Court acquitted three senior officers of the 6th department of the FSB aviation department, Yuri Kravchenko, Artem Sokhin and Sergei Romanov. They were accused of particularly large-scale fraud (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code) and abuse of power (Article 285 of the Criminal Code). It is reported by TASS with reference to lawyer Roman Izhokin, who represented Sergei Romanov.
According to Izhokin, the court did not find corpus delicti in the actions of the officers. The fourth defendant in the case, civilian Vazgen Babakhanyan, was also acquitted.
The accused in the case were the head of the 6th department of the FSB aviation department Kravchenko, his deputy Sokhin and their subordinate Romanov, as well as businessman Babakhanyan. The military prosecutor's office considered them involved in the theft of 63.5 million rubles. In 2017-2019, contracts were signed between the FSB aviation department and AsStroy LLC, which supplies machinery and equipment to military units. The company was supposed to supply and install in Vorkuta a collapsible warehouse complex for storing aviation equipment for aircraft used for the needs of the FSB aviation, but the obligations were not fulfilled. The officers denied their guilt, claiming that they tried to underestimate, not overestimate the amount of government contracts.
The case of the FSB aviation officers was considered by Judge Daniil Logachev, who in 2013 acquitted the commander of the K-152 Nerpa nuclear submarine, Captain First Rank Dmitry Lavrentiev and bilge engineer Petty Officer Dmitry Grobov. They were accused of being involved in the unauthorized activation of the submarine's fire suppression system, which killed 20 crew members.
The 235th Garrison Military Court arrested the officers on June 28, 2021. In court, they argued that all the conditions of the contract had been met: the complex had been built and was functioning. Then Kravchenko, Sokhin and Romanov were placed in the capital's SIZO-4 "Bear" in a special unit for current and ex-siloviks.