Former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov had his sentence reduced from 19 to 10 years. It had been the harshest...

Former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov had his sentence reduced from 19 to 10 years. It had been the harshest sentence among Sergei Shoigu’s former team

Popov’s lawyer Denis Sagach told Kommersant that the sentence had been softened. “In any case, we welcome this humanity,” he said.

Popov was detained in August 2024. He was accused of fraud, bribery, official forgery, abuse of power, and illegal arms trafficking. The main charge concerned the theft of 26 million rubles, which were used to build a country house for Popov.

In April 2025, the court sentenced Popov to 19 years, stripped him of his general’s rank and state awards, and also ordered more than 78 million rubles to be recovered from him. Popov did not admit guilt. During the trial, the 69-year-old defendant underwent several spinal surgeries.

Popov served for more than 10 years as a deputy to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Agenstvo notes that Popov’s 19-year term was the harshest sentence handed to members of Shoigu’s team. In total, after Shoigu was dismissed as defense minister in May 2024, at least 19 officials from the military ministry became defendants in criminal cases.

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Court revises the harshest sentence given to a member of Shoigu’s team

Moscow’s 2nd Western District Military Court on Wednesday considered an appeal against the sentence of former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov and reduced his punishment from 19 to 10 years in a penal colony. Popov’s sentence in April…