Mechislav Buchinsky, a deputy mayor of Langepas in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO), has left for the war with Ukraine. On September 9, Mayor Sergey Gorobchenko shared a photo of Buchinsky alongside other contract soldiers.
Mechislav Buchinsky oversaw road maintenance in Langepas. He left for the war amidst a scandal involving a road that had remained unfinished for 10 years.
In a district where land was allocated for large families, only a small section of the road was paved, even though KhMAO authorities had provided sufficient funds for the full repair.
In July, ahead of Governor Ruslan Kukharuk’s visit, workers attempted to cover the road with asphalt crumbs. The KhMAO ombudsman later appealed to the court, which obliged local authorities to fix the road, but no action was taken. In August, residents took photos of them fishing in a giant puddle on the road, aiming to remind officials of the ongoing issue.
Officials often use the war in Ukraine as a way to avoid criminal prosecution. For example, Konstantin Polezhayev, a former deputy governor of Belgorod Oblast convicted of bribery, requested deployment to Ukraine just before his sentencing. Sergey Novikov, a former deputy head of the Republic of Khakassia, also left for Ukraine. In 2021, Novikov was sentenced to a term in a high-security penal colony for bribery.
