The former head of the Stavropol traffic police, sentenced to 20 years for bribery, will appeal his sentence

The Fifth Court of Cassation will hear the appeal of Alexei Safonov, the former head of the Stavropol Krai traffic police. Widely known as the "traffic cop with the golden toilet" due to the luxurious decoration of his home, he was previously sentenced by the Cherkessk City Court to 20 years in a maximum-security penal colony and a fine of 100 million rubles.

Safonov was stripped of his rank of police colonel, and his property was confiscated by the state. The appeal upheld the sentence.

The investigation established that from 2013 to 2021, Safonov organized a criminal scheme to sell "passes" for heavy trucks, allowing drivers to avoid inspections and fines. The income from this scheme amounted to 21.8 million rubles.

Previously, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, property worth 180 million rubles was seized from the former head of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate and his relatives. The list included 22 properties: apartments, cars, non-residential premises, houses, and a mansion with gold toilets.

Последние новости
Disappearances, raids and torture: what Anna Politkovskaya wrote about the second Russian-Chechen war
Chronicle of Wars and Crimes
Disappearances, raids and torture: what Anna Politkovskaya wrote about the second Russian-Chechen war
7 October 2026

Anna Politkovskaya was killed on 7 October 2006. Her articles, written from behind Chechnya’s blood-soaked information wall and barbed wire, became a voice of truth — the truth about what residents of the republic were experiencing as they became a convenient and powerless collective victim of the global “fight against international terrorism”.

Anna Politkovskaya’s name laid out in flowers in Oslo
Human rights
Anna Politkovskaya’s name laid out in flowers in Oslo
7 October 2026

Memorial events for Anna Politkovskaya are taking place in countries around the world today, marking 20 years since the murder of the journalist, who spent many years reporting on the war in Chechnya and human rights violations.

 

European Parliament Demands Withdrawal of Lawsuit to Ban Opposition Parties in Georgia
Politics
European Parliament Demands Withdrawal of Lawsuit to Ban Opposition Parties in Georgia
7 October 2026

In a draft resolution, the European Parliament has called on Georgian authorities to immediately withdraw the constitutional lawsuit seeking to ban opposition parties. The document is set for a vote on October 8, following a debate on the country's political situation taking place in Strasbourg on October 7.

On Putin’s birthday, Kadyrov speaks of the
Politics
On Putin’s birthday, Kadyrov speaks of the "special significance" of his name for Chechnya
7 October 2026

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov congratulated Vladimir Putin on his birthday and stated that the Russian president's name holds "special significance" for the Chechen people. According to Kadyrov, the region will "never forget" the support Putin extended to his father—Chechnya’s first president, Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov—"at a time when the future of the Chechen Republic depended on the decisions being made."