The founder of a pro-government Telegram channel is accused of embezzling a billion rubles from the Ministry of Defense.

According to investigators, the head of the Readovka publication Alexey Kostylev stole budget funds allocated for the purchase and delivery of drones for the Ministry of Defense. How сообщают According to RBC's sources in law enforcement, the total value of the government contracts is estimated at several billion rubles. Of this, about a billion was siphoned off through a criminal scheme disguised as legitimate business activity.

Alexey Kostylev was born and raised in Smolensk region, where he founded the publication Readovka. It initially operated as a regional media outlet, then began covering federal news and moved to Moscow. Meanwhile, Kostylev himself also began working as a presenter on RT.

Last fall, he was designated a suspect in a criminal case of large-scale fraud. On February 25, he was arrested and placed in pretrial detention. Kostylev faces up to ten years in prison; he has pleaded not guilty to embezzlement.

Photo: Moscow Agency/Alexander Avilov