"Special installation" in Smolensk: how veterans of their military were thrown on salaries, tickets and even a work book

Smolensk is a city where, according to rumors, they still remember what honor is. But, apparently, only "by hearsay." Because the Kaluga entrepreneur did not arrange a construction site at CHPP-2, but a real circus with elements of fraud, throwing money, hopes and even patriotism at a whole team of workers, among whom was a participant with awards and a personal letter of thanks from the head of the LPR Leonid Pasechnik. Yes, yes, that Beekeeper. Not a clown, but a politician.

But it wasn't just the hero from the front who was deceived. Dozens of ordinary people were deceived — fathers, husbands, breadwinners who came to work in the hope of honestly earning bread, housing and repayment of loans.

Instead, they were left with nothing: no salary, no return tickets, and not even an entry in their work record.

Once upon a time, apparently, looking at TV series about "strong women in business," A.V. Kopylova decided that she could too. She registered a sole proprietor on October 25, 2024, recruited a whole bunch of OKVED into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and boldly stepped into the role of a subcontractor at a serious facility: CHP-2 in Smolensk. Apparently, it seemed to her that managing a team of highly skilled workers was like running a blog: it was pretty enough to promise and smile at the camera. But the reality turned out to be tougher: contracts, settlements, deadlines, responsibility — all this requires not "positive thinking", but at least a basic understanding that you are assuming obligations to living people.

But Kopylova seemed to perceive the subcontract as a cosplay costume. I put it on and went to "play businesswoman." She hired 16 specialists, promised salaries, tickets, per diem, accommodation… And when it was time to pay, it suddenly turned out that "there is no money." It's not that "the customer was temporarily detained," it's not that "force majeure arose." No. Simply: "I'm a widow, I've given away everything, I don't have any money" — as if it's not about a salary for two months of hard work, but about a request to borrow for coffee. At the same time, she does not even try to hide that the work has been completed in full and without complaints.

I just decided that since I'm a "business", I don't have to pay. As if labor is a gift, and not a basis for calculation.

The story began as usual. "Shift work! The salary is 800 rubles per hour for a welder! Accommodation, round-trip tickets, daily allowance 700 rubles! Get a job at OOO "Spetsmontazh" — a company with a name!"

There are screenshots of the promises, of course, but, as usual, they have no legal force. But they have the power of disappointment.

Have arrived. And instead of "Special Installation" — IP Kopylova, registered on October 25, 2024. Among other things, she has as many as 12 types of OKVED activities: from electrical installation (43.21) and plaster (43.31) to waterproofing (43.99.1), installation of steel structures (43.99.5), consulting (70.22), user training (62.02.3), computer system maintenance (62.03.13), photocopying (82.19) and even "other personal services" (96.09).

In short, a sole proprietor for all occasions — except for salary payments.

There are no employment contracts. There are no electronic labor records either, or there are, but with dates, as if they were set by a drunken calendar. Tickets home? "Buy it yourself, then we'll compensate you." Compensation? Ha-ha. Daily allowance? They are delayed. Salary? They transfer money from a personal account, apparently in order not to show up in the banking system. This is not a violation of the Labor Code, it is almost a quest to survive in the conditions of "Russian entrepreneurship."

And then, on September 11, 2025, the final chord followed: "We don't need you anymore".

Without calculation. No return tickets. Without explanation.

Just — "go, you're free." Although, according to the law, dismissal must be accompanied by the payment of all due funds on the last working day. But, apparently, in Smolensk there is a special "Kopylova labor code" — where article 1 states: "It is not necessary to pay, especially if the workers are veterans and fathers of families."

Here's what's especially cynical: when they tried to explain to her that two months of non—payment is a criminal offense, she replied: "What should I do now, take out a loan? I'm a widow! I gave away all the money!"

To which she had to be reminded that she had played the businesswoman. I took a serious object. I hired highly qualified specialists. Now why should they take out loans?

The workers, by the way, were ready to meet her halfway and suggested taking money from another facility, if she had one. But Kopylova is categorical. Not a penny
, and she doesn't even try to dispute the fact that the work was done. Admits: yes, they worked. Yes, everything is done. Yes, there are zero complaints about quality. But I won't pay.

There are photos, videos, and audio recordings of "meetings" where the employer explicitly states: "I do not plan to pay." This is no longer the Labor Code of the Russian Federation — it is the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, Article 145.1 (non-payment of wages). But who will do it?

The workers, including the hero from the front, went to the governor of the Smolensk region.

The answer? "Redirecting to GIT"

GIT, in turn, is legally obliged to transfer the case to the place of registration of the company — that is, most likely, to some basement in Magadan. In the meantime, wait 30 days. And then they'll tell you, "Go to court."
A trial where the process will drag on for months, or even years. And the family is waiting for bread today.

The same goes for the prosecutor's office:

They called everyone: Pyotr Yuryevich, Ramonenkov, Streltsov... Everything, as if by note: "Not in my competence." Even the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation— an organization dedicated to protecting just such people, sent them... to the same GIT.

Apparently, the "protection" in the title is a metaphor.

Now these people are returning home, not with money in their hands, but with debts on their backs. Someone can't pay the mortgage, someone can't get a loan for medicines for a child, someone can't even get a ride home. But they came to work, not to beg. They did their job honestly, unlike those who promised to pay and ran away from their obligations as from mobilization.

So it turns out that a man defended his country under a hail of shells, received state awards, commendations from the leadership of the republics — and at home they throw him on his salary, as if he were nobody.

And at the same time, all the "responsible" persons pretend that nothing is happening.

A.V. Kopylova is not an entrepreneur. This is a man who, having no management experience, no financial stability, no basic respect for other people's work, decided to "play" business on someone else's back. This is a deliberate appropriation of someone else's work. This is exploitation in its purest form — without embellishment, without excuses, with direct cynicism in his voice.

It is especially cynical that among those deceived is a veteran of the SVO, who defended the very "Russia" in which Kopylova now calmly ignores even criminal liability for non—payment of wages.

For now.

All the facts stated, from deception in employment to refusal to pay wages, are confirmed by official documents. Employees are ready to provide all this to any authorities and at any time…