Russia's Ex-National Guard Uniform Chief Jailed for 8 Years Over $70,000 Bribe

A Russian court has sentenced Col. Aleksandr Busygin, the former head of the clothing department at the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya), to eight years in prison for taking a 6 million ruble ($71,134) bribe.Case materials say Busygin took the bribe from the contractor, JSC Dzerzhinsky Sewing Factory “Rus,” when overseeing a multibillion-ruble Rosgvardiya contract for “personal hygiene products,” which was ultimately not fulfilled.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.Russian state media RIA Novosti said the court also stripped Busygin of his military rank and imposed a 6.7 million ruble ($79,430) fine in addition to the prison terms and taking back the sum he received as bribes.“The court sentenced Busygin to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony, a fine of 6.7 million rubles, a four-year ban on holding certain positions, and the loss of his military rank of colonel,” the Russian Investigative Committee was quoted as saying.Busygin was arrested in September 2025 in connection with the case.Widespread corruption in and around the Russian military likely led the Kremlin to appoint economist and technocrat Andrey Belousov as the new defense minister in mid-2024.In another corruption case in Russia, former Kursk Region Governor Alexei Smirnov admitted to taking bribes during the construction of border fortifications in mid-September, with the inadequate defense likely contributing to Ukraine’s successful 2024 Kursk incursion. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine to Charge Russia in UN for Causing Humanitarian Disaster in Occupied City Russia won’t let residents out or the Red Cross and emergency supplies into the Dnipro River city of Oleshky, trapping and starving about 2,000 people. The Kremlin just said it’s Ukraine’s fault. Smirnov was sentenced to 14 years in prison in April 2026 in the corruption case. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.