Zaporizhzhia Governor Balitsky Apologizes for Remarks About Kursk Defense

Kursk Governor Alexander Khinshteyn previously demanded that Zaporizhzhia Governor make an apology. Balitsky explained his remarks about "Kursk people" and apologized.

Zaporizhzhia Governor Yevgeny Balitsky explained his comments criticizing the defense work in Kursk region and apologized for them. According to him, his remarks were not aimed at all residents of the region, but rather at the former leadership who were charged with a series of criminal cases related to the construction of defensive works.

In his Telegram channel, Balitsky wrote: "What I meant by 'Kursk people' refers to the former leadership of the region, who were accused of embezzling 1 billion rubles allocated for the construction of defensive structures on the Russia-Ukraine border, which led to the enemy invading Russian territory. These individuals have been charged with organized crime involving fraud through abuse of their positions. It was this small group that directly caused the situation at that time, while the entire country, our army, and every resident bravely dealt with that situation."

He added: "I apologize to those Kursk residents who may have thought my remarks were directed at them."

Kursk Governor Alexander Khinshteyn had previously demanded Balitsky's apology. Khinshteyn wrote: "Even in peacetime, such statements by an official are unacceptable. Let alone today, when words are also a weapon, and the enemy is trying to use any situation to undermine our society."

This spring, former Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov (who held the position from May to December 2024) and his former deputy Alexei Dedov were arrested over a 1 billion ruble fraud case involving the construction of defensive facilities in Kursk region. The leadership of the dissolved "Kursk Region Development Group" was also involved in this case. The former general manager of the group, Vladimir Lukin, who has been detained since December 2024, is accused of embezzling more than 173 million rubles allocated for the construction of defensive facilities. In addition to Lukin, three of his deputies were also detained.

Khinshteyn accused the group of becoming a real super-monopoly "with the efforts of officials," and that "the former leadership of Kursk region, Smirnov, Dedov and others could not have been unaware of who they entrusted the billions of rubles of the budget to. They intentionally turned a design mini office into the largest state contractor."

In September, Smirnov received state protection after reaching an agreement with the investigative authorities, and he was identified as the "main suspect and key witness" in the case.

Smirnov took over as governor of Kursk region after Roman Starovoit was transferred to the Ministry of Transport. Starovoit was removed from his post in July, and his body was found in a private car in Oдинцово, Moscow region, on the day he resigned. The Investigative Committee stated that the preliminary determination of the cause of death was suicide.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847272834216960/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.