21:51, 6 February 2026

A former police chief in Rostov-on-Don has been convicted of bribery.

The court found Alexei Abakumov, former head of the Rostov-on-Don police department, guilty of accepting bribes and sentenced him to 8.5 years in a maximum security penal colony.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," in April 2023, searches were conducted at the offices of employees of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Rostov Region. A criminal case was opened against officials of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Rostov Region: Dmitry Rybalko, Alexei Abakumov, Nikolai Shchitov, Sergei Lyapkin, and Sergei Sungurtyan, who were suspected of organizing and participating in a criminal organization and bribery. In total, approximately 20 people were implicated in the case.

According to investigators, from July 2015, a criminal organization operated in Rostov-on-Don under the leadership of Dmitry Rybalko, former Deputy Chief of Police for Public Order of the Rostov-on-Don Ministry of Internal Affairs. The organization included officials from the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs and residents of the Rostov region. Police officers extracted "tribute" from entrepreneurs operating at the Rostov-on-Don market for failure to prosecute them. The amount of the "tribute" depended on the number of retail premises and ranged from 3,000 to 50,000 rubles per month. As a result, the criminal organization members received particularly large bribes totaling at least 25 million rubles. More than 40 searches were conducted at the suspects' places of work and residence.

Abakumov's case was heard by the Sovetsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don. According to the court, Abakumov led a structural division of a criminal organization and received cash bribes in significant, large, and especially large amounts for illegal inaction on behalf of the bribe-givers, as well as general connivance in his official capacity, Interfax reported, citing the unified press service of the Rostov Region courts.

The former police officer pleaded guilty in full. He was convicted of 64 counts of bribery , as well as organizing or participating in a criminal organization .

The court found him guilty and sentenced him to 8.5 years in a maximum-security penal colony, with a 10-year ban on holding positions in law enforcement agencies that involve the exercise of official functions, and a 17 million ruble fine. He was also stripped of his special rank of "police colonel." In addition, 14.8 million rubles will be confiscated from Abakumov's property for state use.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that during the oral arguments in the case of Rostov judge Elena Kobleva, accused of accepting a bribe, the prosecutor demanded a 10-year prison sentence for her. For the other two defendants, the prosecution requested seven and nine years in prison.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420576