Russian security forces have detained Mikhail Shcherbak, director of capital construction at Atomstroyexport, the management company of Rosatom’s engineering division, the Russian Interfax news agency reported, citing the state corporation.
The Russian Telegram Channel Shot reported, citing an anonymous source, the top executive was allegedly suspected of “financing the Ukrainian army.”
Until 2007, Shcherbak served as deputy head of the administration of the closed city of Sarov, overseeing architecture and urban planning. The Russian Federal Nuclear Center, which develops nuclear, thermonuclear and other types of weapons, is located there.
He later worked at the Nizhny Novgorod-based company Atomenergoproekt, another Rosatom unit, where he handled the organization of nuclear power plant construction.
Both Atomstroyexport and Atomenergoproekt design and build large-scale nuclear power plants.
Russia saw an unprecedented surge in criminal cases against senior officials in 2025. Since the start of the year, 155 officials have been detained in Russia, surpassing the total for all of 2024, when 122 officials were detained. The figures mark a significant rise compared with previous periods: 73 officials were detained in 2023, and just 33 in 2022.
In St. Petersburg, 70 people who prayed for the Ukrainian Armed Forces were detained, Russian media reported.
