The Novosibirsk City Council has revoked the mandates of Sergei Boiko and Helga Pirogova. The reason behind this decision was the alleged failure to submit their income declarations. City councilor Anton Kartavin reported this on June 28
The Novosibirsk City Council has stripped independent councilors Sergei Boiko and Helga Pirogova of their powers. The anti-corruption commission determined that they had not submitted their income statements for 2022. City Council speaker Dmitri Asantsev declared this a valid justification for revoking their mandates. However, Boiko argues that he and Pirogova have declared their income and assets.
Councilor Anton Kartavin says that the discussion regarding Boiko and Pirogova took place halfway through the Council’s session. Simultaneously, the United Russia party called a meeting on a referendum concerning the reinstatement of direct mayoral elections in the Novosibirsk region, a matter Kartavin had been advocating for. He believes that both agendas were presented at the same time to prevent him from supporting Sergey Boiko and Helga Pirogova.
Sergei Boiko and Helga Pirogova were elected as independent candidates from the Novosibirsk Coalition 2020 to the City Council. At that time, Boiko served as the head of Alexei Navalny's local headquarters*. However, he left the country in 2021 after facing prosecution under the law for involvement in the activities of an extremist organization.
In the summer of 2022, a criminal case was initiated against Helga Pirogova for spreading false stories about the military. This was prompted by a tweet in which she commented on a story from "Mediazone" about soldiers' funerals. Following the investigation, Pirogova was forced to leave Russia.
