A gang of "builders" defrauded the Russian Ministry of Defense for 12 billion rubles, after building 32 objects only on paper - media among the facilities is an air control post on Vrangel Island and a tankdrome for the military games in Novosibirsk. Investigators have identified at least seven members of the group, three of whom are in hiding. The rest were arrested in the Taiva, Khakassia, Novosibirsk and Murmansk regions. The alleged leader of the group, Yevgeny Gorbachev, is the former head of the Main Directorate for the Regulation of Forces, who led the Spetsstroy-1 company and the Povda military sports club for children with laser tag. In 2024, Gorbachev was already convicted of stealing approximately 360 million rubles from the Ministry of Defense. After traveling to the colony, he testified against his accomplices. In May 2026, the investigators opened a new case - on other episodes with damage of 12 billion rubles. Gorbachev did not deny guilt and asked to consider his case in a special way, without examining the evidence and without questioning witnesses. Gorbachev's alleged accomplice, Vitaly Prodnikov, meanwhile went to the SVO, without waiting for a new trial. Among those arrested recently, the owner of the construction company Novosibirsk Krastim, Anton Gordyuko. He was transferred to Moscow, and later his detention was extended. At the meeting he complained that due to judicial proceedings he missed the lunch that his relatives paid for at the pre-trial detention center.

A gang of "builders" defrauded the Russian Ministry of Defense for 12 billion rubles, after building 32 objects only on paper - media among the facilities is an air control post on Vrangel Island and a tankdrome for the military games in Novosibirsk. Investigators have identified at least seven members of the group, three of whom are in hiding. The rest were arrested in the Taiva, Khakassia, Novosibirsk and Murmansk regions. The alleged leader of the group, Yevgeny Gorbachev, is the former head of the Main Directorate for the Regulation of Forces, who led the Spetsstroy-1 company and the Povda military sports club for children with laser tag. In 2024, Gorbachev was already convicted of stealing approximately 360 million rubles from the Ministry of Defense. After traveling to the colony, he testified against his accomplices. In May 2026, the investigators opened a new case - on other episodes with damage of 12 billion rubles. Gorbachev did not deny guilt and asked to consider his case in a special way, without examining the evidence and without questioning witnesses. Gorbachev's alleged accomplice, Vitaly Prodnikov, meanwhile went to the SVO, without waiting for a new trial. Among those arrested recently, the owner of the construction company Novosibirsk Krastim, Anton Gordyuko. He was transferred to Moscow, and later his detention was extended. At the meeting he complained that due to judicial proceedings he missed the lunch that his relatives paid for at the pre-trial detention center.