General Popov’s Case: New Details, Court Decision, Maximum Punishment

Military investigators have brought final charges against the former commander of the 58th Army, Major General Ivan Popov. According to law enforcement agencies, a new article has appeared in his case.

Popov is accused of committing crimes under Articles 159 (“Fraud on an especially large scale”) and 292 (“Official forgery that resulted in a significant violation of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, organizations, or legally protected interests of society or the state”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The maximum penalty for fraud is up to ten years’ imprisonment, and for official forgery – up to four years.

Lawyers allowed the case to be dismissed when Popov was sent to the SVO zone

According to lawyer Sergei Buinovsky, the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) of Russia allows for the suspension of the investigation of a case against a major general if he is sent to a special military operation (SVO) zone. To do this, the immediate commander of the accused must contact the military investigation, he noted. The specialist also stated that the defense is preparing the relevant documents in which it will ask to legally send Popov to the SVO zone.

Lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky also allowed for the termination of Popov’s criminal case given his successes in the SVO zone. “Being sent to the SVO itself is not grounds for release from criminal liability,” he added.

Popov was arrested on May 21

At the request of the investigation, Popov was arrested on May 21.

It was noted that the general was involved in the sale of metal received as humanitarian aid for the construction of engineering structures. We are talking about the construction of a defense line in the special military operation (SVO) zone.

Earlier it was reported that Kyiv had put General Popov on the international wanted list. The Ukrainian investigation brought charges against the general under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 437 (“Conducting an aggressive war committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons”) of the Criminal Code of the republic.