Russia has arrested two senior military figures, Lieutenant-General Vadim Shamarin and defense ministry official Vladimir Verteletsky, as part of a widening bribery scandal. These arrests bring the total number of detained military and defense officials to five within a month, marking a significant crackdown on corruption linked to lucrative military contracts during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Lieutenant-General Vadim Shamarin, deputy head of the army’s General Staff and head of the Ministry of Defence’s main communications directorate, is accused of accepting bribes from 2016 to 2023. The bribes, totaling at least 36 million roubles ($400,000), allegedly came from a factory in the Ural Mountains that produces communications equipment in return for awarding larger state contracts. Shamarin has been placed in pre-trial detention for two months and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
BREAKING 🚨 Lieutenant General Vadim Anatolyevich Shamarin has been arrested
He is the head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. pic.twitter.com/qSykZyP0pa
— PS01 (@PStyle0ne1) May 23, 2024
Vladimir Verteletsky, a senior procurement official at the defense ministry, has been charged with abuse of authority in executing a state defense order. In 2022, he allegedly signed off on incomplete work, causing a loss to the state of over 70 million roubles ($764,000). Details on his plea are yet unclear.
Another Russian Defence Ministry official, Vladimir Verteletsky, is arrested – quite violently. https://t.co/lzeJOJ76yT
— XSovietNews 🇺🇦 (@XSovietNews) May 23, 2024
The arrests follow those of Major-General Ivan Popov, a former top commander in Ukraine, and Lieutenant-General Yuri Kuznetsov, head of the Defence Ministry’s personnel directorate, on similar bribery charges. Earlier, Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov was arrested in April, marking the beginning of the high-level corruption clampdown. Ivanov, a close associate of former Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, was detained for alleged bribe-taking, leading to Shoigu’s dismissal and replacement by economist Andrei Belousov.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the fight against corruption is a continuous effort and integral to law enforcement activities.
Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, indicated that Shamarin’s arrest is part of a larger audit of the Main Communications Directorate to enhance the army’s morale and upgrade its equipment.
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