Putin replaced the governors of the Belgorod and Bryansk regions

General of the Northern Military District and former head of the LPR government became acting heads of border regions

President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignations of two governors of regions bordering Ukraine - the head of the Belgorod region , Vyacheslav Gladkov , and the governor of the Bryansk region , Alexander Bogomaz . Both submitted applications of their own free will.

General Alexander Shuvaev , a veteran of the Northern Military District, who previously served as deputy governor of the Irkutsk region, was appointed acting governor of the Belgorod region. Yegor Kovalchuk , who previously headed the government of the self-proclaimed LPR, became the acting head of the Bryansk region.

Putin held working meetings in the Kremlin with both appointed acting heads of regions.

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Gladkov has led the Belgorod region since 2020

Vyacheslav Gladkov has headed the Belgorod region since 2020. After the start of a full-scale war, the region became one of the most frequently attacked border regions of Russia.

RBC sources did not name the exact reasons for Gladkov’s resignation. Two of the publication’s interlocutors said that he himself would like to leave his post because he was tired of leading the front-line region. Another source close to the presidential administration, without details, asserted that the governor, despite the absence of complaints about his ratings, has “other questions.”

At the beginning of 2026, Gladkov also criticized the slowdown of Telegram , calling his channel the main source of operational information for residents of the front-line region. He warned that problems with the messenger could affect the notification of the population if the situation worsens.

Gladkov has been under sanctions from the UK and the US since 2022.

Gladkov's deputies were detained in cases of "dragon teeth"

In 2025, two of Gladkov’s deputies were detained - Rustem Zainullin and Vladimir Bazarov.

Zainullin oversaw property and land relations in the Belgorod region. He was detained in June in a case of possible abuses during the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine - the so-called “dragon teeth”. He was released from his post only in April 2026 due to loss of confidence.

Bazarov, who worked in the government of the Belgorod region since 2020, moved to the Kursk region in 2025 with the status of acting deputy governor. In August, he was detained on suspicion of bribes for assistance in concluding contracts for similar work.

Construction of fortifications in the Belgorod region began in the fall of 2022. In May 2025, Gladkov stated that the audit revealed violations amounting to 109 million rubles and an overestimation of the volume of work by contractors. Later, some organizations returned the money to the budget.

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What is known about Alexander Shuvaev

Alexander Shuvaev was born in 1981 in Novy Oskol, Belgorod region. He graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne School and the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces. Since 2002, he served in the military, participated in military operations in the North Caucasus, in the war in Georgia, operations in Syria and the war against Ukraine. Shuvaev's brigade is suspected of shooting at least five Ukrainian prisoners of war - this is a war crime.

Shuvaev has the title of Hero of Russia, was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree with swords, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, three Orders of Courage and the Suvorov Medal.

In 2025, he became a participant in the Time of Heroes presidential program, created to promote Ukrainian war veterans into government positions. In January 2026, Shuvaev was appointed deputy governor of the Irkutsk region.

Bogomaz left after ten years at the head of the Bryansk region

Alexander Bogomaz has headed the Bryansk region since 2014 and was re-elected to this post three times - in 2015, 2020 and 2025. In the last elections he received 78.78% of the votes.

After the outbreak of full-scale war, Bogomaz publicly supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In March 2022, he met with the organizers of the “We are for Peace!” motor rally, and then spoke at a rally and concert in honor of the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, where he called Putin’s decision to start hostilities “the only correct one.”

Bogomaz also changed the letters in the name of his telegram channel to Z and V. In 2018, he came under sanctions from Ukraine, and after the start of the war, restrictions were imposed against him by the USA, Canada, Great Britain and other countries.

“If we say that sanctions were imposed against me because of helping our fraternal peoples of Donbass, then we helped, are helping and will continue to help them,” Bogomaz said, commenting on Canadian sanctions.

Egor Kovalchuk, who replaced Bogomaz, originally from Chelyabinsk, worked in the banking sector and housing and communal services, was the Minister of Industry and Deputy Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region. In 2023, Kovalchuk was elected mayor of Miass, but already in July 2024 he moved to the post of chairman of the LPR government.

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Deputy Bogomaz was arrested in the case of fortifications

During the leadership of Alexander Bogomaz in the Bryansk region, law enforcement agencies investigated several cases against high-ranking officials of the regional administration. It was about corruption, abuse of power and theft in the implementation of government contracts.

One of the most high-profile cases was the case of former deputy governor Tatyana Kuleshova and deputy director of the internal policy department Tatyana Sheveleva. They were accused of bribes when purchasing computers for schools.

A criminal case was also opened against Vice-Governor Alexander Petrochenko. The investigation accused him of corruption in concluding government contracts. In March 2026, the court found Petrochenko guilty and sentenced him to ten years in a maximum security colony.

Separately, in 2025, Vice-Governor Nikolai Simonenko was arrested in connection with abuses during the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine. According to the investigation, the damage in the case exceeded 800 million rubles.

Scandals surrounding administration officials regularly raised questions about Bogomaz’s personnel policy. The governor himself has publicly stated that law enforcement agencies must act “according to the law” and avoided commenting on the personal responsibility of his subordinates.

Theft case in the Kursk region

Investigations into theft during the construction of border fortifications affected not only the Belgorod and Bryansk regions, but also the Kursk region .

According to investigators, billions of rubles were stolen during the construction of defensive structures in the region. The governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, appointed in 2024, called the situation “shameful” and argued that the construction of fortifications under the previous leadership had turned into a “corrupt business project.” Khinshtein stated that in just one of the episodes the damage could reach 4.1 billion rubles.

The defendants in the criminal cases are the former governor of the Kursk region Alexey Smirnov, his deputy Alexey Dedov, the leadership of the Kursk Region Development Corporation and the contractors involved in the construction of fortifications.

The case also mentioned the former governor of the Kursk region and ex-Minister of Transport Roman Starovoyt . According to media reports and investigative materials, it was during his leadership of the region that contracts for the construction of controversial fortification facilities were concluded. Journalists and RBC sources claimed that the investigation was checking Starovoit’s possible connections with contractors and kickback schemes.

In July 2025, on the day of his resignation, Starovoit committed suicide.

Photo: Vyacheslav Gladkov. Telegram

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