Oleg Kabov - Т-инвариант / T-invariant

Oleg Kabov

Oleg Kabov
Date of incident: April 5, 2024
Type of violation: charge of especially large-scale fraud
Institution: Institute of Thermophysics SB RAS

Summary: On April 5, 2024, a court in Novosibirsk began hearing the case of the head of the laboratory for intensification of heat transfer processes at the Institute of Thermophysics SB RAS, Corresponding Member of the RAS Oleg Kabov, accused of especially large-scale fraud (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum penalty is ten years’ imprisonment), Kommersant reports.

Details. According to investigators, Oleg Kabov forged scientific reports and embezzled part of the funds allocated for research. The amount of damage was initially estimated at 26.7 million rubles, but during the investigation it was reduced to 7 million rubles. The episode related to the legalization of criminal proceeds was also excluded from the charges. The defense claims that the accusations of falsification are unfounded, and several scientific inventions were made within the framework of the project.
Read a detailed analysis of the case on the T-invariant website.

May 23, 2024 Academician Alexey Khokhlov reported in his Telegram channel that the Institute of Thermophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences has prepared the text of an appeal from Russian scientists to the leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences in connection with the ongoing trial against Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences O.A. Kabov for allegedly falsifying reports on a scientific project within the framework of the Federal Target Program “Research and Development”.

January 22, 2025The Novosibirsk prosecutor’s office requested seven years in a general regime colony and a three-year ban on scientific activities for Kabov. According to the prosecution, while conducting scientific work within the framework of the federal target program, Kabov committed theft using budgetary funds of the Ministry of Education and Science when paying bonuses in the amount of 7 million 218 thousand rubles. The assistant prosecutor believes that the guilt is confirmed by the totality of evidence and the testimony of the victims, T-invariant reports.

“I am shocked by the cruelty of the charges brought against me, which did not take into account the evidence from the defense,” says Natalia Berlova, a professor at the University of Cambridge and a member of the American Physical Society Committee on International Freedom of Scientists (CIFS).

Sources: Kommersant, T-invarint.

5 April 2024

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Co-authors. Who and How Fabricated the Case Against Physicist Oleg Kabov?

During the trial of physicist Oleg Kabov, it emerged that the criminal case had been initiated by two of his former students. One of them, after threatening Kabov, joined the FSB (Federal Security Service of Russia), after which the second student filed a denunciation against his former scientific supervisor. It also became clear that the embezzlement case lacked any financial evidence, and that the allegations regarding the falsification of Kabov’s scientific results had been manufactured by FSB officers. The prosecution is demanding a seven-year prison term, a significant fine, and a three-year prohibition on conducting scientific research. The defendant has asked the judge to reopen the investigation. The judge must now decide whether there is sufficient information to deliver a verdict or if the case should be sent back for further investigation.

T-invariant and CISRUS launched a chronicle of violations of the rights and freedoms of scientists and teachers

Dismissals, fines, stigmatization, criminal cases, torture — all this awaits in Russia those who are trying to tell the truth, oppose war, protect peace, criticize the authorities or simply honestly do their academic and teaching work .

T-invariant and the CISRUS Centerwill work together to chronicle the persecution of scientists in Russia for as long as it continues. If you have witnessed or been the target of academic harassment, please contact us at [email protected].

The chronicle records violations of the rights and freedoms of scientists and teachersas citizens of the Russian Federation, as well as violations of their academic rights and freedoms by the leadership of their scientific institution.