Justice: Russia: High-ranking general again arrested for corruption

In Russia, former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov has been arrested on suspicion of corruption, according to official information. “According to investigators, between 2021 and 2024, when Popov was responsible for the development, operation and work of the Patriot Park, he enriched himself at the expense of this facility,” the Russian Investigative Committee said on its Telegram channel. Patriot Park west of Moscow is a propaganda amusement park that is lavishly run by the military.

Popov forced the construction companies working in the park to work on his own property, the indictment now says. The 67-year-old had to vacate his post as their deputy in June, one month after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was dismissed. The general was considered a confidant of Shoigu, under whom he served in disaster control in the 1990s and 2000s before following his boss to the Defense Ministry in 2013, where he was eventually promoted.

The director of the area and a high-ranking department head in the Ministry of Defense are already in custody because of the scandal surrounding diverted funds for the construction of Patriot Park. Although investigators have not yet publicly quantified the amount of damage, they have announced that Popov and his closest relatives were found to be in possession of real estate worth the equivalent of around five million euros – significantly more than the deputy minister officially received as a salary.

In the course of the reshuffle at the top of the ministry, a number of corruption scandals became public, including against other deputies of Shoigu. Shoigu himself, who is considered a loyal follower of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, was given an honorable exit as Secretary of the National Security Council.