Russia Corruption in the military: Vice Chief of General Staff arrested

According to state media, the deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, Vadim Shamarin, has been arrested in Moscow on suspicion of corruption. A military court in the Russian capital ordered the lieutenant general to be remanded in custody for two months on Thursday because he is said to have accepted bribes on a particularly large scale, the state news agency Tass reported. This can carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison in Russia. Details of the criminal proceedings were not disclosed.

The 52-year-old, who headed the main communications department, is said to have accepted bribes when concluding contracts. The Russian military leadership has been rocked by corruption scandals and arrests for weeks – in the midst of Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov and General Yuri Kuznetsov, who is responsible for personnel in the Defense Ministry, were also arrested on corruption charges. On Tuesday, the arrest of Russian General Ivan Popov, who was previously the commander of a large unit of the Russian armed forces stationed in southern Ukraine, was also reported. He is accused of fraud.

According to a report in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Shamarin’s home had also been searched. The general was then taken to the military department of the Investigative Committee for questioning and was eventually arrested. Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov and the head of the Main Personnel Department, Yuri Kuznetsov, had also been arrested.

Prigozhin criticized the “bribery economy” in Russia’s military

The Russian military apparatus is considered extremely corrupt. In particular, the head of the Russian private army Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had repeatedly complained about bribery in the military leadership and blamed defeats in the war of aggression against Ukraine on this. The former confidant of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin died in a plane crash in August – two months after a failed uprising.

Prigozhin’s criticism was directed primarily at Sergei Shoigu. On May 12, he was unexpectedly dismissed after more than ten years in office and appointed Secretary of the National Security Council. Economist Andrei Belousov was chosen as his successor. According to Kremlin sources, Shoigu’s task was to “optimize” the spending of the Russian army and the arms industry, which was running at full speed.

Economic expert Andrei Beloussov will now be the new defense minister to ensure order in military leadership and spending. According to the Kremlin, Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov will remain in his post. Moscow said that there would be no change in the war aims in Ukraine.