The Russian general who built his country house with stolen money just found Moscow’s courts capable of mercy after all

The Second Western District Military Court in Moscow cut former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov’s prison sentence from 19 years to 10, his attorney, Denis Sagach, told the Russian business daily Kommersant. “We welcome this show of leniency regardless,” Sagach said.Popov was detained in August 2024 on charges of fraud, bribery, falsification of official documents, abuse of office, and illegal arms trafficking. He was accused, in the main charge, of embezzling 26 million rubles to build himself a country house.A court sentenced Popov in April 2025 to 19 years in a penal colony, stripping him of his general’s rank and state awards and ordering him to pay more than 78 million rubles. Popov denied wrongdoing throughout the trial, during which the 69-year-old defendant underwent several operations on his spine.Popov served for more than 10 years as a deputy to Sergei Shoigu, the former defense minister. Agentstvo, an independent Russian outlet, notes that Popov’s 19-year sentence was the harshest handed down to any member of Shoigu’s team. In total, at least 19 Defense Ministry officials have been named in criminal cases since Shoigu’s removal as defense minister in May 2024.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.