The second position on United Russia’s Moscow party list for the State Duma elections has gone to Eduard Shonov, an Airborne Forces special operations serviceman who, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe, may have taken part in the occupation of Kyiv region at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and may be linked to a unit mentioned in reports on war crimes.
The outlet says Shonov is likely to win a seat: he is listed immediately after longtime State Duma deputy Pyotr Tolstoy and is also running in a single-mandate district in the Perovo area.
Why he is linked to the 45th Brigade
Open sources do not identify either the military unit number or the exact formation in which Shonov served. In his official biography, his last post is listed as “deputy commander of a detachment of a special forces brigade”; before that, he had served in special forces roles of lower rank since 2017.
However, the publication says three indirect indicators point to the 45th Special Purpose Airborne Brigade: his registered address in Kubinka near Moscow at the brigade’s location, an Airborne Forces badge for distinction, and a phone-book entry in which someone saved his contact as “Shonov 45”.
In May 2024, Shonov joined the кадровый program for veterans of the invasion of Ukraine called Time of Heroes. He first interned with Moscow Deputy Mayor Nataliya Sergunina, and in April 2025 he was appointed adviser to Moscow’s Department of Entrepreneurship, where he oversees the work of a training center for unmanned aviation systems.
What is known about the brigade
According to the report, the 45th Airborne Brigade took part at the start of the invasion in the fighting for Antonov Airport in Hostomel and later in the occupation of Bucha. Sanctions have been imposed by the European Union on the unit’s commander, Vadim Pankov.
The sanctions rationale says Pankov’s brigade took part in the occupation of Bucha and that, according to the accusations, he ordered the shooting of 30 civilians and forced civilians to remove the bodies of Russian soldiers.
The publication says these claims rely in part on an investigation by The Sunday Times, published in 2025, into crimes committed by Russian troops in Kyiv region. Human rights groups have also mentioned the 45th Brigade in connection with events in Dymer, where in March 2022 local residents were held in a compressor room at a window factory, subjected to harsh interrogations and beatings, and some were later taken to Russia.