Moscow Police General Arrested in Fuel Theft Scheme
Major General Sergei Malkov and gas station executives accused of embezzling fuel meant for police vehicles.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Moscow Police General Arrested in Fuel Theft Scheme
Photograph: The Moscow Times (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Moscow police general Sergei Malkov and executives from the gas station network Eurotrans were arrested for allegedly stealing fuel intended for police vehicles.
- Major General Sergei Malkov, deputy head of the Moscow region’s Interior Ministry branch, allegedly oversaw the scheme with Eurotrans chairman Igor Martyshov.
- Malkov and two subordinates were fired from the Interior Ministry and face charges of large-scale embezzlement.
- Eurotrans shares fell 6% on the Moscow Exchange following the news of the arrests.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 9 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 8 of the 17 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
25/100
17 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 2 of the 9 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Moscow police general Sergei Malkov and several executives from the gas station network Eurotrans have been arrested for allegedly stealing fuel designated for police vehicles. Major General Sergei Malkov, deputy head of the Moscow region’s Interior Ministry branch, allegedly oversaw the scheme with Igor Martyshov, board chairman of Eurotrans. Malkov and two subordinates, Colonel Alexei Suyarov and Lieutenant Colonel Anna Levina, were fired from the Interior Ministry and face charges of large-scale embezzlement. Three other Eurotrans executives have also been placed in pre-trial detention. Following the news of the arrests, Eurotrans shares dropped 6% on the Moscow Exchange.
Disagreement on charges
The Moscow Times reported that all seven individuals face charges of large-scale embezzlement, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Life.ru reported that Malkov faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of 1 million.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated digests mention the accusation that Eurotrans had previously been accused of price gouging, nor do they mention the broader context of falling Russian gasoline production. None of the left or centre-rated reports mention the specific fine of 1 million rubles that Malkov faces.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 7 Sept 2026, 18:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
2 rated outlets
- Mediazona, the sole left-rated report, led with the detention of high-ranking police officers, including the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Moscow region, and two other senior police officers in connection with the theft of departmental fuel. The report stated that the case is being investigated under an article concerning appropriation or embezzlement on a particularly large scale or by an organised group. Mediazona also noted that the Eurotrans company owns the Trassa chain of petrol stations and that the company had previously defaulted on its bonds due to a temporary shortage of funds.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The Moscow Times, the sole centre-rated report, led with the arrest of a police general and gas station executives in a fuel theft scheme. It identified Major General Sergei Malkov as overseeing the scheme with Eurotrans chairman Igor Martyshov. The report stated Malkov and two subordinates were fired and face charges of large-scale embezzlement, with a maximum sentence of 10 years. It also mentioned Eurotrans had been accused of price gouging in June and that Russian gasoline production had plummeted.
Right
6 rated outlets
- Six right-rated reports focused on the detention of Major General Sergei Malkov and other police officers in connection with fuel theft. EADaily, Korrespondent.net, news-pravda.com, and vz.ru all highlighted Malkov's position as deputy head of the Moscow region's Interior Ministry branch. Interfax.ru reported that the theft of motor fuel belonging to the sub-headquarters police station had been discovered. Realitatea.net stated a Russian general was caught stealing gas for the police and that the investigation showed he was part of an organised group.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Moscow Police General Arrested in Fuel Theft Scheme?
- Of the 9 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 22% are rated left, 11% are rated centre, 67% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 17. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Moscow Police General Arrested in Fuel Theft Scheme left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 9 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Moscow Police General Arrested in Fuel Theft Scheme biased?
- Moscow Police General Arrested in Fuel Theft Scheme is one event reported by 17 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Moscow Police General Arrested in Fuel Theft Scheme?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Moscow Police General Arrested in Fuel Theft Scheme?
- 17 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who was arrested in the fuel theft scheme?
- Moscow police general Sergei Malkov, along with two subordinates Colonel Alexei Suyarov and Lieutenant Colonel Anna Levina, were arrested. Several executives from the gas station network Eurotrans, including chairman Igor Martyshov, were also detained.
- What are the charges against those arrested?
- Major General Sergei Malkov and his subordinates were fired from the Interior Ministry and face charges of large-scale embezzlement. Three other Eurotrans executives have also been placed in pre-trial detention. Malkov faces a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine.
- How did the company's stock react to the news?
- Following the news of the arrests, shares in the gas station network Eurotrans dropped by 6% on the Moscow Exchange.
Read it at the source
17 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
2- Senior Moscow region police official and gas station executives detained over alleged theft of police fuel (opens Meduza in a new tab)
- Deputy Heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Pomoskovyje and Two Other High-Ranking Police Officers Were Detained in the Case of Theft of Departmental Fuel (opens Mediazona in a new tab)
Centre
1Right
6- A Russian General, Caught Stealing Gas for the Police. (opens REALITATEA.NET in a new tab)
REALITATEA.NET — is REALITATEA.NET biased? Our profile of this outlet
- General Malkov of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Is Detained in a Case of Theft of Petrol From the Police in Poposkovje: EADaily (opens EADaily in a new tab)
- In Russia, a General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Was Detained for Theft of Fuel. (opens Korrespondent.net in a new tab)
Korrespondent.net — is Korrespondent.net biased? Our profile of this outlet
- ‼️ An Interior Ministry major general and two senior officers have been detained in connection with the theft of official fuel (opens news-pravda.com in a new tab)
news-pravda.com — is news-pravda.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Deputy Commander of the Undercover Police Was Detained in a Case of Theft of Fuel. (opens Interfax.ru in a new tab)
Interfax.ru — is Interfax.ru biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Former Heads of the Ministry ' S Department of Internal Affairs for Malkov Pomoskov Have Been Detained in a Case of Theft of Fuel (opens vz.ru in a new tab)
Not rated
8- Rewards Were Received, and Now Suspects, as Is Known of the General and Two Senior Officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Detained for Theft of Fuel. (opens Daily Storm in a new tab)
Daily Storm — is Daily Storm biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Deputy Director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Top Managers of the Refuelling Network Were Detained in Pomoskov, Suspected of Stealing Departmental Fuel. (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
- The General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Management of a Large Network of ADF Have Been Detained in the Corruption Case (opens istories.media in a new tab)
istories.media — is istories.media biased? Our profile of this outlet
- General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Accused of Stealing Police Gas (opens Mediafax in a new tab)
- The General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Podmoskovje Was Detained in a Case of Theft of Fuel From the Police, Among Other Figures Are Top Managers of the AZS Trass Network — New Gazette (opens Новая газета - Novayagazeta.ru in a new tab)
- A Major General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Was Detained in Pomoskov on Suspicion of Theft. (opens Fishki.net in a new tab)
Fishki.net — is Fishki.net biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Malkov Faces a Prison Sentence of up to 10 Years and a Fine of 1 Million in a Case of Theft of Fuel. (opens Life.ru in a new tab)
- The General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Top Managers of the ARS Trassa Network Were Detained in a Case of Theft of Police Fuel (opens tvrain.tv in a new tab)
How did this read?
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