Russia arrests two more top defence officials

Russia arrests two more top defence officials
by AFP Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) May 23, 2024

Russia on Thursday arrested a general and a high-ranking defence official on corruption and "abuse of power" charges -- the latest senior military figures to be put behind bars this month.

The Kremlin denied it was carrying out a purge of top army officials, but some of Russia's influential military bloggers welcomed the arrest of a general they hold responsible for battlefield failures in the two-year offensive in Ukraine.

Moscow's powerful Investigative Committee said Vadim Shamarin, deputy head of Russia's General Staff, had been placed in detention on suspicion of "large-scale bribe taking".

The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

The committee alleged that Shamarin had been taking bribes for years from a factory in the Urals city of Perm, saying he had received 36 million rubles (364,000 euros) in kickbacks in return for boosting government contracts.

It said he had been placed in pre-trial detention.

Later on Thursday, the committee announced the arrest of Vladimir Verteletsky -- an official from the defence ministry's department for ensuring state orders.

It said Verteletsky had "been charged with the abuse of his official powers" and has also been placed in detention.

Investigators accuse Verteletsky of taking a bribe in relation to a government contract in 2022, the first year of Moscow's offensive.

It said the alleged offence had cost the state "over 70 million rubles" (706,000 euros).

Critics and opposition figures have for years said Russia's military is riddled with corruption, although its leaders have rarely faced any serious probe or retribution.

- Kremlin denies purge -

The issue burst to the forefront amid failures in the Ukraine offensive, with Wagner paramilitary head Yevgeny Prigozhin accusing Russia's military bosses -- then-defence minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov -- of corruption on an almost daily basis, saying it hobbled Russia's combat capacity.

Prigozhin died last year in a plane crash just two months after launching a bloody mutiny in a bid to remove the pair.

The arrest of Shamarin, who was head of the General Staff's communications directorate, is the latest in an apparent crackdown on some of Russia's top military officials.

But the Kremlin denied it was mounting a purge.

"The fight against corruption is an ongoing effort. It is not a campaign. It is an integral part of the activities of law enforcement agencies," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

Putin removed Shoigu earlier this month in a surprise reshuffle, replacing him with economist Andrei Belousov.

A deputy defence minister, Timur Ivanov, and head of the ministry's personnel, Yuri Kuznetsov, also have been arrested in the last few weeks for bribe-taking.

And Ivan Popov, an ex-commander who was sacked after he criticised Russia's military leaders for a high casualty rate in Ukraine, was arrested earlier this week.

Some Russian military bloggers welcomed the arrest of Shamarin, saying it was communications breakdowns -- caused by a lack of equipment due to corruption -- that were behind Russia's military failures in Ukraine.

"Bribery in the military and security services is state treason," military blogger Anastasia Kashevarova said in a post on Telegram.

Amid the reshuffle and arrests in Moscow, Russian forces in Ukraine have made their most significant advances on the battlefield in 18 months, with a new major assault on the northeastern Kharkiv region.