On May 23, 2024, Russian Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the army, Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin was detained on suspicion of taking large bribes. He has been charged under Article 290, paragraph 6 of the Criminal Court of Russia (accepting a particularly large bribe).
This was announced by the British Ministry of Defense in its daily summary of the war in Ukraine.
Other high-ranking figures in the Russian Ministry of Defense, also suspected of corruption, were recently arrested, such as Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov and Chief of Staff of the Russian Ministry of Defense Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov.
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These arrests took place after the dismissal of Sergei Shoigu as Minister of Defense on May 12, 2024. Vadim Shamarin headed the Communications Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense from 2021. One of his predecessors in the post, Colonel General Halil Arslanov, was also investigated for corruption in 2020.
Corruption is deeply rooted in the Russian Ministry of Defense. More arrests are likely.