Sergei Furgal was unexpectedly elected
Governor of Khabarovsk Krai in September 2018, defeating sitting Governor
Vyacheslav Shport by a margin of 41 percentage points. Furgal quickly became a popular figure in regional politics earning an informal title of "People's Governor". At some point Sergei Furgal's popularity rate was higher than that of President Putin in
Khabarovsk Krai. In 2019 Khabarovsk regional and local elections
LDPR cruised to several landslide victories: the party simultaneously won 30 of 36 seats in
Khabarovsk Krai Legislative Duma, 34 of 35 seats in
Khabarovsk City Duma, 24 of 25 seats in
Komsomolsk-on-Amur City Duma and mayorship in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. LDPR candidate
Ivan Pilyaev even captured Furgal's former
seat in the
State Duma,
United Russia candidate singer
Vika Tsiganova only placed third. Presidential Envoy to the
Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev also, allegedly, had poor relations with Governor Furgal for his lack of cooperation and support of United Russia. In March 2019 former Governor of Khabarovsk Krai (1991–2009)
Viktor Ishayev was arrested in
Moscow, he was later charged with fraud during his tenure as vice president of
Rosneft. Viktor Ishayev was considered as Sergei Furgal's ally and several affiliated with Ishayev politicians worked in Furgal Administration (namely, First Deputy Chairman of the Khabarovsk Krai Government Igor Averin, Deputy Chairman of the Government for Security and Cooperation with Federal Authorities Vladimir Khlapov, and Minister of Finance Aleksandr Katsuba). In April 2019 Deputy Chairman of the
Investigative Committee Igor Krasnov reopened cases regarding killings of several businessmen in
Khabarovsk Krai and
Amur Oblast committed during 2004 and 2005. First arrests concerning reopened cases occurred in November 2019 when
MVD and
FSB agents arrested former
Khabarovsk Krai Legislative Duma member Nikolay Mistryukov and three other individuals, they were charged with the murders of businessmen Yevgeny Zorya in 2004 and Oleg Bulatov in 2005, they were also accused of attempting to kill Aleksandr Smolsky in 2004. Law enforcement officials also carried out searches and seized documents in the offices of "Torex" group (owned by Nikolay Mistryukov and Furgal's wife Larisa Starodubova), Deputy Chairman of the Government Yury Zolochevsky and Minister of Industry Sergey Denisenko. Nikolay Mistrykov testified against Sergei Furgal while he was being detained in
Lefortovo Prison. On 9 July 2020 Sergei Furgal was arrested and escorted to Moscow by
FSB and
SK agents. He was accused of 2 assassinations and 1 assassination attempt. Alongside Governor Furgal, four of his associates were detained:
Khabarovsk Krai Legislative Duma members Dmitry Kozlov and Sergey Kuznetsov, entrepreneurs Nikolay Shukhov and Yevgeny Averyanov. Sergei Furgal's arrest sparked
mass protests. On 11 July 2020 11,000-12,000 people took part in a rally in
Khabarovsk to support arrested Governor. The protesters believed Furgal's arrest was politically motivated and was an act of revenge from federal authorities for Furgal's independent style of governance. On 18 July an even larger crowd of 50,000 to 80,000 people took the streets of Khabarovsk. Protests also were held in multiple cities all across Russia: from
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to
Saint Petersburg. In Khabarovsk itself continuous pickets were held throughout summer, autumn and even winter 2020–2021. While Sergei Furgal was detained, a search for his successor has started. Among the considered candidates were
Khabarovsk Airport Board of Directors chairman
Konstantin Basyuk,
LDPR State Duma member
Mikhail Degtyarev, Deputy Presidential Envoy to the
Far Eastern Federal District Grigory Kuranov, First Deputy Chairman of Krai Government Yury Zolochevsky and former Deputy Chairman of Krai Government (2011–2015)
Andrey Bazilevsky. However, due to ongoing unrests in Khabarovsk and increasing unpopularity of
United Russia in the region it was decided to appoint member of
LDPR, a party Furgal was member of. Party's shortlist included State Duma member from
Primorsky Krai Andrey Andreychenko, chairman of the Duma Committee on Sport
Mikhail Degtyarev, and chairman of the Duma Committee on Economy and Entrepreneurship
Sergey Zhigarev. On 20 July 2020, 11 days after Sergei Furgal's arrest, President
Vladimir Putin fired Furgal for the "loss of trust" and appointed
Mikhail Degtyarev as acting Governor of Khabarovsk Krai. Mikhail Degtyarev quickly draw an ire from Furgal's supporters for his denouncement of
protest movement, firings of Krai Government officials and appointment of Moscow and Samara natives to his administration. In August 2020 Degtyarev became acting coordinator of
LDPR regional office in
Khabarovsk Krai, he was elected to full capacity in February 2021. Mikhail Degtyarev clashed with local LDPR leaders, as the result several prominent politicians left the party, including both
Federation Council senators
Yelena Greshnyakova and
Sergey Bezdenezhnykh, Sergei Furgal's eldest son Anton,
Khabarovsk City Duma Speaker Mikhail Sidorov and 7 other City Duma members. Greshnyakova, Bezndenezhnykh and Sidorov were favourites to mount a "pro-Furgal" challenge to Degtyarev in upcoming gubernatorial election, but all of them ultimately declined with Greshnyakova and Sidorov opting to run for
State Duma instead. ==Candidates==