Former mayor convicted of bribery signs contract with Russian Ministry of Defense

Dmitry Naumov, the former mayor of the Russian city of Vladimir, who was previously convicted of a corruption offense, is now, according to official information, fighting in the war against Ukraine after signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and heading to the front lines, as publicly announced by Vladimir Region Governor Alexander Avdeev.

According to Russian media, in January 2026, Naumov was sentenced to eight years in a strict-regime penal colony on bribery charges, fined 11 million rubles, and barred from holding office in local government for five years; while the court also upheld the seizure of his property, including his car, funds, and jewelry.

The investigation established that as early as 2023, he had received a bribe for facilitating the employment of two people in management positions at municipal enterprises involved in funeral services, and had also approved regulatory changes that, according to the investigation, restricted the operations of other market participants to the benefit of these entities.

Naumov himself pleaded guilty in court and, according to media reports, stated in his final statement that he wished to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense to go to war against Ukraine.

Such cases are not uncommon in Russia, as there have been previous reports of other officials convicted of corruption who also went to the front lines, and some of them died in combat, which has become part of a broader trend of involving individuals with criminal records in the war.