May 23rd 2024.
According to recent Russian news reports, a senior member of the Russian military general staff has been arrested on charges of accepting large bribes. This marks yet another incident of high-ranking military officials being implicated in bribery scandals.
The deputy chief in question, Lt Gen Vadim Shamarin, was apprehended following the arrest of another high-ranking official, Maj Gen Ivan Popov, earlier this week. Popov, who had played a key role in Russia's offensive in Ukraine, is also facing bribery charges.
This is not the first time that corruption allegations have rocked the Russian military. In April, Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov was also arrested on similar charges. Interestingly, Ivanov was known to be a close associate of Sergei Shoigu, who was recently dismissed as defence minister by President Vladimir Putin.
Coincidentally, the head of the defence ministry's personnel directorate, Lt. Gen. Yury Kuznetsov, was arrested for bribery just two days after Shoigu's dismissal. Shamarin, who is currently in custody for two months, is also the head of the defence ministry's main communications directorate. However, details of the case have not been disclosed by Russian news agencies.
When asked about the recent string of arrests, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified that this was not a targeted attack on the military, but rather a continuous effort to combat corruption. He emphasized that it is an ongoing process and a crucial aspect of the work carried out by law enforcement agencies.
It is worth noting that Shoigu had been heavily criticized for Russia's failure to capture Kyiv during the Ukraine conflict. He was accused of incompetence and corruption by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who even initiated a mutiny in 2023 to demand Shoigu's dismissal, along with that of military chief of staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov.
Shortly after Prigozhin's unsuccessful uprising, Popov was relieved of his duties as commander of the 58th Army. He claimed that he had brought up concerns about insufficient equipment that resulted in unnecessary Russian casualties, and his dismissal was a betrayal to the Russian forces in Ukraine.
Popov's army was stationed in the Zaporizhzhia region, which was one of the most fiercely contested areas in the ongoing conflict. His removal came just a day after the Ukrainian forces launched a strike on the 58th Army's command post in Berdyansk, killing a high-ranking general.
The situation remains tense as the Russian military continues to face allegations of corruption and incompetence. Only time will tell how the authorities will handle these cases and restore public trust in the armed forces.
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