All police in Golunov drug case freed
All police officers who passed drugs to journalist Ivan Golunov have been released. The last person involved in the case of passing drugs to journalist Ivan Golunov was released from prison, according to 'Kommersant'.
Consensus
- All five police officers involved in the falsified drug case against journalist Ivan Golunov were released from prison.
- The last officer, Igor Lyakhovets, had his remaining sentence replaced with forced labor.
- The court decision to replace Lyakhovets' sentence was made on February 4, 2026.
- The decision was upheld by the Kirov Oblast Court on March 30, 2026, despite a prosecution appeal.
- Lyakhovets had served half of his 11.5-year sentence before the replacement was granted.
- Ivan Golunov was arrested on June 6, 2019, and charged with attempted drug trafficking.
- Golunov was released after three days due to public pressure and the case was later dropped with a right to rehabilitation.
- The police officers were convicted of fabricating evidence and exceeding their authority.
- The officers were part of the Moscow police's narcotics control department in the Western Administrative District.
- The officers' actions were officially attributed to improving departmental performance metrics.
- The initial sentences ranged from 5 to 12 years, later reduced to between 4.5 and 11.5 years.
- The journalists' case was linked to his reporting on the funeral business in Russia.
Points of divergence
- The journalist was not informed about the court decision regarding Lyakhovets' release, as the court did not notify him or his lawyer. — tg_theinsider
- The journalists' case was allegedly ordered by individuals mentioned in his published articles, though this was not confirmed by the investigation. — tg_theinsider
- The court did not order the convicted officers to pay compensation to Golunov, and the initial ruling to recover one million rubles per officer was overturned. — tg_theinsider
- Golunov received 1.5 million rubles from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but attempts to recover these funds from the former officers have failed. — tg_theinsider
- Golunov stated he was not informed about the court decision and expressed a desire for the officers to be punished financially. — tg_bbcrussian
- Roman Feofanov was initially denied early release due to the victim's opposition, but later granted it. — riamo
- The Kirovsko-Chepetsky Court could only consider the sentence replacement after Lyakhovets had served half his sentence. — riamo
- The court decision was made on February 4 but this is inconsistent with other sources stating 2026. — meduza
Coverage (14 sources)
- All police officers who passed drugs to journalist Ivan Golunov have been released — SOTAvision
- All police officers who passed drugs to Ivan Golunov have left the colony — РИАМО
- Last defendant in the drug-smuggling case against journalist Ivan Golunov has been released — «Kommersant» — ЭХО / Новости
- The last defendant in the drug-smuggling case Golunov has left prison — Ведомости
- All five police officers who passed drugs to Golunov have left prison. The crime's instigator has not been officially identified yet... — The Insider
- From the colony came the last defendant of the journalist Ivan Golunov case — Вести
- The last policeman serving time for the Golunov case has been released — BBC News Русская служба
- Last of five police officers sentenced on the drug-smuggling case against journalist Ivan Golunov has been released — Meduza
- From the colony, the last convict sentenced for drug-smuggling to journalist Ivan Golunov in 2019 was released. About... — Радио Свобода
- Main defendant in the drug-smuggling case against journalist Ivan Golunov has left prison. He became the last of five sentenced... — Важные истории
- All former police officers who passed drugs to journalist Ivan Golunov have left prison, — «Kommersant» — ASTRA
- All police officers who smuggled drugs to Golunov have left the colonies — Фонтанка
- All former police officers convicted in the case of journalist Golunov have left the prisons — Вечерняя Москва
- The last police officer who smuggled drugs to Ivan Golunov has left prison — Новая газета Европа
Key entities
- Ivan Golunov
- Igor Lyakhovets
- Commerzant
- MVD
- Moscow
- Kommersant
- ZAO
- Kirov Oblast
- Kirovo-Chepetsky Court
- Western District
- Maxim Umetbaev