Former Belgorod Mayor Konstantin Polezhaev killed in war, relatives say

Former Belgorod Mayor Konstantin Polezhaev was killed in the war, his relatives told the Belgorod-based news outlet Fonar. The outlet gave no further details.Polezhaev served as mayor of Belgorod from 2015 to 2019 before becoming deputy governor of the Belgorod region for housing and utilities. His duties included overseeing the reconstruction of Shebekino and Novaya Tavolzhanka after Ukrainian shelling. In the summer of 2023, he was removed from his post over substandard work in the two towns.Shortly after his removal, he was detained on charges of accepting bribes in the form of vehicles worth 17 million rubles. In August 2024, a court sentenced him to five years in prison.In his final statement, Polezhaev said he had signed a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry and was “ready to sacrifice his life.” He was then claimed to have left to fight. However, Pepel wrote that the former official had not gone to war but was instead listed as a member of the BARS mobilization reserve unit. The outlet claimed that Polezhaev’s role is nominal and that he actually spent his time at home with his family.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.