The list of senior Russian officials arrested by the authorities in the space of a month has expanded. This Thursday, Russian security forces ordered the general’s arrest for two months. Vadim Shamarinhead of the General Communications Office of the Russian Armed Forces and “number two” of the General Staff, due to corruption accusations, the agency reported TASS.
Hours later, Russian authorities detained Vladimir Verteletskiresponsible for ensuring compliance with state purchases of the Russian Ministry of Defense, under the accusation of abuse of power.
The CIR established that Veteletski concluded and accepted in 2022 works contracted by the Ministry of Defense that were not finished, causing losses of more than 70 million rubles (more than $776,000).
Shamarin is the fourth senior military official arrested in almost a month and is accused of accepting a bribery of large amount. As reported by the authorities, the general received between April 2016 and October 2023 a total of 36 million rubles (almost $400,000) from the hands of Alexei Visokovdirector of the Telta telephone factory in the Perm region of Russia, and the main accountant of this company, Yelena Gríshina.
A Russian court has indicated that Shamarin, who is currently being questioned by Russian Justice, had violated article 290 of the Criminal Code, although he has refused to comment further on the matter, citing reasons of confidentiality.
The accusations against the general could lead to a prison sentence of up to 15 yearsindicated the Russian media.
Shamarin headed the General Communications Office of the Army and combined that position with that of the deputy chief of the General Staff, since 2021. The general replaced Khalil Arslanov, who also He was arrested in 2020 for corruption and is still being tried behind closed doors for alleged fraud.
In recent weeks, corruption accusations have already led to the arrest of Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov and the director of that department’s Personnel Office, Yuri Kuznetsov.
This week the Russian Justice also sent the former commander of the 58th Army of the Russian Armed Forces to preventive detention Ivan Popov. Russian media reported that the former commander of the Russian 58th Army was accused of fraud.
The arrests of senior military officials come amid a major remodeling in the Russian Ministry of Defenseafter the dismissal of the portfolio holder, Sergei Shoigu, who was replaced by the economist Andrei Belousov.
This Monday Vladimir Putinthe president of Russia, also dismissed the deputy minister of defense, Yuri Sadovenko, which was replaced by Oleg Savelievwho until now served as an auditor at the Russian Accounts Chamber.
As reported The country, Unlike the arrest of General Popov, Shamarin’s arrest has resulted in a wave of joy in the Russian ultranationalist sector. The Russian propaganda machine has identified the now detained man as one of the guilty of the army’s problems.
Several have highlighted that the theft of army funds had been known for a long time, but no public figure had dared to denounce the corruption in more than two years of war and Shamarin continued to hold a high position in the Russian military hierarchy. Furthermore, criticism of the army can lead to several years in prison by law. “on the discrediting of the actions of the Russian armed forces”, reported The country.
Putin previously estimated defense and security spending for this year at 8.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and justified the appointment of Belousov with the need to manage these enormous resources and modernize the Armed Forces and the military industry.
Likewise, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dimitri Peskov, said in his daily press conference: “The fight against corruption is constant work” and insisted that the fight against corruption “is carried out in all ministries.” .
(With information from EFE and Europa Press)
