Recently, Lieutenant-General Vadim Shamarin, a deputy chief of the Russian military general staff, has been arrested on charges of large-scale bribery, as reported by Russian news sources on Thursday.
This arrest marks the latest in a series of high-profile bribery arrests involving top military officials in Russia.
Shamarin’s arrest comes shortly after the apprehension of Maj General Ivan Popov earlier this week, who was also charged with bribery. Popov, a former key commander in Russia’s operations in Ukraine, faced similar accusations.
The trend of arrests of high-ranking military figures on bribery charges has been ongoing, with Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov being arrested for bribery in April. Noting, Ivanov was closely associated with Sergei Shoigu, the former defense minister who was dismissed by President Vladimir Putin shortly after his inauguration for a new term in May.
Another significant arrest in this series was that of Lieutenant-General Yury Kuznetsov, who headed the defense ministry’s personnel directorate. Kuznetsov was also detained on bribery charges just two days after Shoigu was replaced.
Shamarin, in addition to being the deputy chief of the general staff, holds the position of head of the defense ministry’s main communications directorate. He is currently being held in custody for a period of two months, according to reports from Russian news agencies. However, specific details of the case have not been disclosed.
The dismissal of Shoigu had been linked to Russia’s perceived failure to seize control of Kyiv early in the conflict in Ukraine. Shoigu faced criticism for alleged incompetence and corruption, notably from mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who staged a mutiny in June 2023 demanding Shoigu’s removal, along with Gen Valery Gerasimov, the military chief of staff.
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Shortly after Prigozhin’s attempted uprising, Popov was relieved of his duties as commander of the 58th Army. Popov cited discussions with Shoigu regarding inadequate equipment that had resulted in excessive Russian casualties. He denounced his dismissal as a “treacherous” betrayal of Russian forces in Ukraine.
Popov’s army was actively engaged in the Zaporizhzhia region, a fiercely contested area within the Ukraine conflict. His removal from command occurred the day after a Ukrainian strike targeted the 58th Army’s command post in Berdyansk, resulting in the death of a high-ranking general.
These successive arrests and dismissals of high-ranking military officials underscore the gravity of corruption within Russia’s military establishment and its impact on ongoing military operations, particularly in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
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