23:48, 14 February 2026

Witnesses in the Gel case testified that they were forced to participate in extinguishing the fire.

Ivan Gel. Screenshot from his Telegram channel: https://t.me/glava_ilov_admin.

Ilovlinsky District Head Ivan Gel forced his subordinates, including the deceased administration employee, to participate in extinguishing a fire and interfered with the work of emergency services, witnesses said.

As reported by "Kavkazsky Knot," Ilovlinsky District Head Ivan Gel has been charged with abuse of office causing grave consequences (Article 286 of the Russian Criminal Code). According to investigators, he sent unauthorized administration employees to extinguish the fire, resulting in the death of 52-year-old Alexander Pereyarin from burns and the injury of three of his colleagues. On August 7, the court returned the case to the prosecutor's office. In October 2025, the Volgograd Regional Court upheld the appeals of the prosecutor's office and the victims against the decision of the Ilovlinsky District Court to return the case of Ivan Gel, head of the same district, to the prosecutor's office. The case of abuse of power due to the death of Gel's subordinate in a steppe fire was returned to the trial court.

The court suspended Gel from his post, but he continued to perform his duties, challenging the court's decision. In December 2024, despite protests from residents, deputies re-elected Ivan Gel as head of the district. Gel's opponents were his subordinates, who had not campaigned in the election.

At the last court hearing in the case of Ivan Gel, head of the Ilovlinsky District of the Volgograd Region, one of the witnesses, Vladimir Glazkov, head of the Krasnodon rural settlement, confirmed that the district head forced him and other employees to participate not only in extinguishing fires but also in firefighting, according to Vysota 102.

He reported that the people who participated in extinguishing fires on the orders of the district head had not undergone special training, lacked equipment or protective clothing, and were only equipped with backpacks. Employees were also not insured against accidents. The head of the Krasnodon rural settlement admitted that he himself was forced to follow Ivan Gel's orders and participate in firefighting efforts in the district.

Vladimir Glazkov, who was well acquainted with Alexander Pereyarin, who died while extinguishing a fire, confirmed that Pereyarin intended to resign as head of the Civil Defense and Emergencies Department of the Ilovlinsky District Administration because he did not want to follow Ivan Gel's orders, which were unrelated to his job responsibilities.

Written testimony from Alexey Nikitin, the former head of the fire brigade, was also read at the meeting. The witness confirmed that the head of the Ilovlinsky District interfered with the firefighters' actions and gave them orders during the firefighting effort. Another witness's testimony was also read at the court hearing, which showed that the four Ilovlinsky District administration employees who were trapped in the fire along with Alexander Pereyarin should not have been sent to that location, as the terrain makes it a deadly crater during a fire, the publication states.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420809