Sergei Furgal

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was involved in the scrap metal trade. In 2005, he became head of the Khabarovsk branch of the LDPR. In 2007, he became a deputy of the State Duma. In September 2018, he won the gubernatorial election in Khabarovsk Krai in a protest vote, beating the incumbent regional head, Vyacheslav Shport, by more than 40 percentage points, despite running almost no campaign. During his short tenure as governor, Furgal took a number of steps aimed at curbing officials' privileges: he cut his own salary, refused to use state-owned luxury goods, reduced staff numbers and travel expenses and cut pension supplements for officials and deputies. In addition, the governor submitted a bill to the regional legislature to restore the direct election of district heads - the law was adopted. Under him, the regional parliament also passed laws limiting the powers of the governor. On July 9, 2020, Furgal was detained and taken to Moscow, where the next day a court ordered his pretrial detention in a case concerning the organization of murders and attempted murders committed in 2004. On July 20, President Putin removed him from office due to a loss of trust. In November 2021, Furgal was charged in a new case - the embezzlement of funds from the Amurstal plant. On 10 February 2023, Furgal was sentenced to 22 years in a strict regime penal colony. On 3 December 2025, Furgal was sentenced to 25 years in the embezzlement case, taking into account the previous sentence.