The fog of the past week, from the 17th to the 23rd of August, has lifted to reveal a most scandalous tableau in the Chelyabinsk province. It is a tale of fallen giants, sudden arrests, and the cold clink of iron shackles—the sort of drama that would make any street-corner newsboy shout until he is hoarse.
Mark your calendars for the 27th of August, for the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow shall open its doors to the case of Mikhail Yurevich, a man who once held the governor's seal but now skitters in the shadows. Alongside his confederate, Alexander Moskalyuk, Yurevich stands accused of the foulest corruption and the illicit possession of weaponry.
At ten strikes of the clock, the proceedings shall commence in the open air of the courtroom. Yet, a curious twist! Both the governor and his henchman have fled the borders of the Realm and are now hunted by the federal sleuths. 'Twill be a strange sight indeed if the judge delivers a sentence to an empty chair. Meanwhile, the gold-mines of his media empire—the 'Rodnik' and 'Almaz' stations—have already slipped into the hands of a new master, like a winning hand of cards passed in a dim tavern. Read more of this chase here and behold the new owner.
Poor Anatoly Semenov, once the grand overseer of the regional health authority, learned a bitter lesson this week: the law's mercy is a fleeting thing. On the 7th of August, he and his eldest son, Alexei, tasted the sweet air of home arrest. But the Crown's prosecutors, smelling a rat, filed a fierce appeal.
By the 19th, the regional court had spoken. The Semenovs were hauled back to the damp confines of the investigative isolator, their brief foray into freedom lasting less than a fortnight. They are charged with the weaving of webs—shuffling employees and selling favors for coin. As for their worldly goods, the General Prosecutor has seen fit to seize every penny and piece of furniture for the state's coffers. The return to the cell was swift, and their estates are gone.
In the murky depths of the municipal water works (MUP 'POVV'), a different sort of filth has been uncovered. Alexander Shishkov, the former director, and Denis Krivtsov, a man of the 'Montazhnik' outfit, remain locked behind bars. The court, unmoved by their pleas for pity, has extended Shishkov's misery by a full year and Krivtsov's by seven months. The iron bars remain shut.
But the rot goes deeper. The sleuths have names in their notebooks: Sergey Khabirov, Mikhail Volkov, and even Anatoly Slobodyanyuk, a former city deputy. They are all suspected of skimming gold from the reconstruction of the city's pipes. This trail of greed has led the constabulary straight to the door of former Vice-Mayor Alexander Astakhov and the head of housing, Vadim Khramtsov. It seems the prisoners, finding their spirits broken, have begun to sing, pointing the finger at their former masters.
Lastly, we turn to Mr. Konstantin Strukov, a man of great industry and even greater debts. For too long, the damage done to the earth by his 'South Ural Gold' mines was shuffled between various companies, like a gambler hiding his losses. No more.
The law has decided that the master must pay for the sins of his servants. The land has been scarred, the waters fouled, and the bill has come due. Out of a total ruin of 138 million rubles, Mr. Strukov must now reach into his own pockets to produce 135 million. The price of greed is a heavy burden indeed.