Arrests began within the structures of the Russian Ministry of Defense – within a month, three generals, including a deputy minister, were detained on suspicion of taking bribes, and the former commander of the 58th Army, Ivan Popov, was detained on fraud charges. .
In Russia, layoffs continue at the top of the army. In total, following the arrest of Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov on April 24, five senior officials of the Russian Defense Ministry and former military commanders were arrested.
Bribes
After Ivanov, the head of the main personnel department of the Ministry of Defense, Yuri Kuznetsov, was detained. He was also accused of accepting bribes on a large scale. The case materials relate to the period from 2021 to 2023, when Kuznetsov headed the Eighth Directorate of the General Staff. According to investigators, he received bribes from representatives of commercial structures. During a search of Kuznetsov’s house in Istra, Moscow Region, as well as his apartment and office in Moscow, they found more than 100 million rubles in Russian and foreign currency, gold coins, watches and luxury items.
A day before Kuznetsov’s arrest, Vladimir Putin announced the resignation of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who held this post for 12 years.
On May 23, it became known about the detention of the head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Vadim Shamarin. According to the investigation, from April 2016 to October 2023, Shamarin received a bribe in the amount of 36 million rubles from the general director of the Perm Telephone Plant Teltaz to increase the volume of products supplied under government contracts for the needs of Russian Ministry. of Defense and general patronage.
On the evening of May 23, another Defense Ministry official, Vladimir Verteletsky, head of the defense procurement department, was detained on suspicion of taking bribes.
Fraud
On May 21, it became known about the arrest of the former commander of the 58th Army, Major General Ivan Popov. Unlike the two previous defendants, Popov was not accused of bribery, but of fraud on a particularly large scale (part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code).
Popov was removed from command in July 2023 after he criticized the actions of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. In a closed Telegram chat, he recorded a voice message. In the message, Popov said that he “had a difficult situation with his superiors,” when he had to “remain silent and cowardly, or call a spade a spade.” According to him, he chose the second and identified all the problems existing in the army, which caused his dismissal.
A criminal case was opened against Popov in connection with the theft and sale of metal structures provided for the construction of front fortifications.
What does it all mean?
The Institute for the Study of War suggests that even higher-ranking officers of the Russian Army could face dismissal. The official Kremlin has denied a targeted campaign against Russian Ministry of Defense officials, arguing that the arrests are part of a consistent fight against corruption. However, this statement by the Kremlin spokesman is “difficult to reconcile with the sudden flurry of dismissals and arrests with abnormal speed and wide resonance,” ISW emphasizes.
According to analysts, in this way the Kremlin cleans up the department and supports the image of the new Minister of Defense of Russia Andrei Belousov as an official who is supposedly capable of solving those problems in the Russian Ministry of Defense that cannot be solved by Sergei Shoigu.
Source: korrespondent
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