Moscow’s Khamovnichesky Court on August 27, 2025 delivered its verdict in the so-called “generals’ case.” Sergei Umnov, the former head of the Interior Ministry directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region and later an aide to the interior minister, was sentenced to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony and fined 35 million rubles.
His former deputies also received prison terms. Major General Ivan Abakumov, who oversaw logistics, was sentenced to 11.5 years and fined 35 million rubles. Former St. Petersburg traffic police chief Alexey Semenov received 11 years in prison and a fine of 9 million rubles. Property worth more than 64 million rubles was confiscated from all three, and they were stripped of their ranks and state awards.
Another defendant, former legal department head at the traffic police directorate Elena Kopteva, was sentenced to 10 years in a general-regime colony and fined 10 million rubles. Three businessmen found guilty of paying bribes each received 8 years and 6 months in prison. Fitness club owner Nadezhda Smirnova, who made a deal with investigators and testified, was fined 2 million rubles.
Investigators tied the case to the Support Fund for Interior Ministry Programs in St. Petersburg and the surrounding region, which commercial registration and examination offices were said to have funded with part of their revenue. According to the prosecution, senior police officials used that money to buy expensive fitness memberships, gift cards, and pay for banquets. The case was initially framed as abuse of office, but in court it was reclassified as accepting a large bribe.
In his final statement on August 1, Sergei Umnov rejected all charges and said the motives behind the case were “not in the legal sphere.”
Sources cited by the publication and defense lawyers describe the prosecution as part of an internal struggle for influence within the Interior Ministry. The defense noted that some witnesses withdrew earlier statements in court, saying they had been pressured, and that all of those convicted except Smirnova denied guilt. Defense lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.