Then–State Duma member and Chairman of the Duma Committee on Sport Mikhail Degtyarev was appointed acting Governor of Khabarovsk Krai in July 2020, replacing fellow Liberal Democratic Party member Sergey Furgal who was arrested earlier in July on suspicion of organising two murders and one murder attempt.

[1] Degtyarev faced opposition from Furgal's supporters for his denouncement of the protest movement, firings of Krai Government officials[2] and appointment of Moscow and Samara natives to his administration, which resulted in prominent Furgal allies such as both Federation Council Senators from the krai Yelena Greshnyakova and Sergey Bezdenezhnykh, Khabarovsk City Duma Speaker Mikhail Sidorov and Anton Furgal, the eldest son of the former governor, leaving Liberal Democratic Party in protest.

[3] Nevertheless, Degtyarev easily won the subsequent gubernatorial election in the first round with 56.81% of the vote, while TV presenter and actress Marina Kim (SR–ZP) placed second with 25.39%.

[9] Nikitin was considered a potential candidate for the appointment, while other mentioned candidates included Senators Andrey Bazilevsky of Khabarovsk Krai and Konstantin Basyuk of Kherson Oblast,[10] Head of Rosreestr Oleg Skufinsky, Deputy Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Denis Andreyev and Deputy Prosecutor-General of Russia Dmitry Demeshin.

[11] On May 15 President Vladimir Putin appointed Dmitry Demeshin as acting Governor of Khabarovsk Krai.