St. Petersburg school appoints acting director after ex-head's arrest

The administration of the Kalininsky District of St. Petersburg announced the appointment of a new acting director of School No. 28. «From 24 January 2026, the duties of the director of the state budget general education institution Secondary School No. 28 of the Kalininsky District of St. Petersburg have been assigned to Yekaterina Igorevna Aleksandrova, deputy director for educational work,» the department stated.

His predecessor as director was Grigory Rankov, who previously headed the «Smolninskoye» municipality. Last weekend, the court placed Rankov under house arrest in a criminal case concerning the creation of «dead souls».

The investigation claims that Rankov, together with other municipal employees, from 2021 to 2024, processed documents for the fictitious employment of a woman. According to case materials, she received 2.3 million rubles (approximately $23,000 at current rates) without showing up for work and transferred these funds to the accounts of deputy head of administration Svetlana Zaichkina and Rankov himself.

The ex-head is also accused of issuing bonuses to subordinates and then demanding that they return part of the payments to him. According to the investigation, in this way he illegally received 1,176,256 rubles (approximately $11,800 at current rates).

Rankov headed the «Smolninskoye» municipality until 2024. He is known for his harsh confrontation with opposition deputies of the previous convocation. Rankov did not allow them to hold meetings, and once even a smoke bomb exploded near the municipal building.