The second arrest for corruption of a high-ranking military official yesterday compounded the most important scandal in years at the Russian Ministry of Defense. The Investigative Committee announced the arrest of the ministry’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov for “receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale.” The arrest came just two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the dismissal of his veteran ally Sergei Shoigu as defense minister, and three weeks after the arrest of Deputy Minister Timur Ivanov. For the crime they are accused of, both could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
According to the investigation, between 2021 and 2023 Kuznetsov received a bribe “from business representatives to commit some actions in his favor” while he was head of Directorate 8 of the General Staff of the Russian Army, the Committee explained yesterday of Instruction, which oversees and investigates major crimes in Russia.
The general began directing Directorate number 8 in May 2010, in an appointment endorsed by the then Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev. This body directs the Defense Service of State Secrets and provides the Ministry of Defense with the information necessary to carry out the administration of the armed forces. He held the position until May 2023, when he was put in charge of the General Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense.
In a November 2018 interview, Kuznetsov himself explained to the Krasnaya Zvezdà newspaper that Directorate 8 was in charge of the State Secrets Defense Service and that it worked to guarantee the security of information, to detect, prevent and eliminate computer attacks against Ministry of Defense systems.
According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, the arrest took place at his home on Monday morning, May 13. Investigators searched Kuznetsov’s properties and seized more than a hundred million rubles (a little over a million euros), gold coins, collectible watches and other luxury items.
With 55-year-old Kuznetsov, there are already five arrested in this scandal, starting with Deputy Minister Ivanov, who was taken into custody on April 23.
The Investigation Committee accuses Ivanov of having received a bribe in the amount of 1,185 million rubles (12 million euros at the current exchange rate). Investigators believe he illegally helped several Ministry of Defense contractor companies and, in return, those companies did free construction and repair work on his properties. Timur Ivanov denied his guilt before a court that decreed provisional imprisonment against him. The day after the arrest Vaser was dismissed from his position. Two businessmen are also involved in this case, Aleksandr Fomín, founder of the Olimcitistroi company, and Serguei Borodín, who are also under arrest.
According to the Tass agency, it could be the testimony of one of them that facilitated the arrest of Kuznetsov. And also that of the fifth defendant, a businessman from the Krasnodar region named Lev Martirossian, suspected of bribing Kuznetsov.
On Sunday, Vladimir Putin, who took office for a fifth term as President of Russia on May 7, sent the composition of the new Government of Russia to the Parliament. It had included the dismissal of his close ally Serguei Xoigú as Minister of Defense, and the appointment as a substitute of Andrei Beloussov, economist and until now Deputy Prime Minister. Xoigu was appointed secretary of the Security Council.
The change has been interpreted in several ways: as a concession to the most bellicose sectors, which for months have criticized the lack of progress in the campaign against Ukraine; or as an attempt to boost the war economy in view of the certain possibility that the conflict will be prolonged.
The spokesman for the Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, told reporters yesterday that the Kremlin does not consider that Shoigu has been degraded with this change. He assured that the new position “is of great importance for the country, with a large volume of tasks, in direct contact with the president”, and recalled that, in addition, Xoigú will be vice president of the Military Industrial Commission and will supervise the work of the Federal Technical Military Cooperation Service.
For his part, at a time when Russia plans to increase its defense budget to 30% of government spending, Belousov’s priority will be to fine-tune procurement, improve the war economy and boost the military industry to achieve the ‘success on the battlefield.
Peskov assured yesterday that in the Kremlin there is no fear that the changes in the Ministry of Defense and the arrest of several high officials could disorganize the management of the troops deployed in Ukraine.
