MOSCOW: The former governor of Russia`s Kursk region and his ex-deputy have been arrested on suspicion of embezzling over $12 million of funds earmarked for border defences with Ukraine, authorities said on Wednesday.

Alexei Smirnov, 51, and Alexei Dedov, 48, were in charge of the region when Ukrainian troops stormed across the border in August 2024, mounting the biggest ground assault on Russian territory since World War H.

The two were detained `as part of a criminal investigation into the embezzlement of budget funds totalling more than one billion rubles ($12 million)`, Russian interior ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said on Telegram. The funds were allocated to a local statebacked developer `for the construction of fortifications on the region`s border with Ukraine`, she added. The defendants were taken into custody on Tuesday and Wednesday, she said, without saying which person was arrested on which date.

Video showed Smirnov being escorted into a glass defendant`s box at Moscow`s Meshchansky District Court. The court said he would be held in pre-trial detention for at least two months.

Smirnov, governor of the region between May to Dec 2024, had drawn criticism over his response to the incursion, telling residents the situation was under control despite Ukraine breaking into several settlements.-AFP