The appellate court in the Sverdlovsk region has suspended the bribery case against former Minister of Transport Vasily Starkov because he has joined the Special Military Operation (SMO) zone. The decision to suspend the case came at the request of a representative from the Ministry of Defense.

Starkov was previously sentenced in February to six and a half years in a strict regime colony and fined 40 million rubles for accepting a 4 million ruble bribe from “Meliorstroy” in exchange for state highway maintenance contracts.

Following the verdict, Starkov requested to serve in the SMO zone instead of going to prison. He had signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense in May 2024, before the investigation concluded, and served in the SMO zone before being returned to Yekaterinburg in July. The regional prosecutor’s office appeal against the initial verdict has been put on hold.

Vyacheslav Danilov, the former head of the highway department, was also implicated in the case for allegedly demanding money for including “Meliorstroy” in the list for state highway maintenance contracts. Danilov also joined the SMO in November of last year, leading to the suspension of his case as well.