That was last month. Deputy Minister of Defense of RussiaThe ministry’s personnel director was subsequently summoned to court. Two more senior military officials All were detained and all face corruption charges which they deny.
The arrests began after President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term in office. Shuffled alliesHe appointed long-time Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to the new post.
Questions quickly arose about whether Putin was trying to regain control over the Defense Ministry. Ukraine WarHas a turf war broken out between the military and security services, or is a different scenario unfolding inside the Kremlin walls?
Let’s take a look at what’s behind the arrests and why they’re happening now.
How serious is corruption in Russia?
Corruption scandals are nothing new, and for decades high-ranking government officials and government officials have been accused of using their positions to benefit.
Corruption in Russia serves as both a carrot and a stick: It is both a way to “encourage loyalty and get people to think like-minded” but also an instrument of control, said Sam Green, director of democratic resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis.
Putin wants everyone to “keep secrets,” security expert Mark Galeotti said in a recent podcast. If a country has damaging material on a key figure, it can handpick its targets, he added.
“Corruption is inherent in the system,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
The war in Ukraine has only increased defense spending and created more opportunities for corruption.
Who was arrested?
Former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, the first to be arrested in April and the highest-ranking official to date, oversaw major military-related construction projects and had access to huge amounts of money, including the reconstruction of parts of the destroyed Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
The team led by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny They allege that the 48-year-old Ivanov and his family owned luxury properties and enjoyed lavish parties and overseas trips even after the war began, and that his wife, Svetlana, divorced him in 2022 to avoid sanctions and continue living a lavish lifestyle.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Thursday that the arrests were not a “campaign” against corruption, but rather reflected ongoing work in “all government institutions.”
Peskov and Ivanov have been caught on camera before in an embarrassing incident: Navalny’s team shared a photo of the Kremlin spokesman celebrating 2022 at a birthday party for Ivanov’s ex-wife. In the video, Peskov is seen wearing an estimated $85,000 watch, with Ivanov at his side.
Russia’s top law enforcement body, the Investigative Committee, reported in April that Ivanov was suspected of accepting particularly large bribes, a criminal offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Those who have since been arrested on bribery charges include the head of the Defense Ministry’s personnel department, Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, career military man and former Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin, a deputy to Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
On Thursday, it was reported that a fifth ministry official had been arrested: Vladimir Berteletsky, the ministry’s head of defense procurement. According to the Investigative Committee, Berteletsky was charged with misusing his power to cause losses of more than 70 million rubles (about $776,000).
Also, Russian media reported that Vladimir Terayev, deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Moscow Region, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of accepting large amounts of bribes.
Why is this happening now?
Richard Connolly, an expert on the Russian economy at the Royal Institute for Integrated Security Studies in London, said the arrests suggested “really gross” corruption at the Ministry of Defence would no longer be tolerated.
Shortly after taking office, Putin appointed economist Andrei Belousov as defense minister to replace Shoigu. Increasing the defense budget It needs to fit into the country’s broader economy.
Peskov said Russia’s defense budget is 6.7 percent of its gross domestic product, a level not seen since the Soviet era.
“There’s a view that this money needs to be spent more wisely,” Connolly said.
Before dying in a still-mysterious plane crash last year, the leader of the mercenary group Evgeny Prigozhin A short-lived rebellion broke out, accusing the country’s military leadership of mismanaging the war and refusing to supply arms and ammunition to the army.
Gould Davis said Belousov’s appointment “is a reluctant admission by the Kremlin that it must pay attention to these issues.”
Because the Russian economy depends on war, it is also crucial that it is well managed. A booming defense sector has boosted Russian salaries, allowing Putin to continue delivering on his promises to raise living standards, despite inflation problems.
Green said the government “needs to continue the war to keep the economy going” but needs to ensure costs and corruption don’t become any higher than they need to be.
Connolly said the new defence minister, Belousov, may have been removing his predecessor’s close aides to send a message that “things are done differently”.
Popov’s case may be different: he fought in Ukraine and, like Prigozhin, was suspended in July 2023 for criticizing the Defense Ministry leadership and blaming it for weapons shortages and poor supply lines that led to many Russian casualties.
He may now be facing the consequences of that criticism.
Is this a turf war?
It is unclear whether the Kremlin or Russian security services, specifically the State Security Service (FSB), were behind the arrests.
It’s also possible that officials well removed from Putin have been caught in the middle of a turf war unrelated to the appointment of a new defense minister.
Green said security forces may be trying to “resist” the military dominance seen since Putin ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
While the Kremlin denies that any kind of purge is taking place, “it wouldn’t have happened if Putin didn’t want it to happen,” Green said.
What happens next?
Connolly said arrests were likely to increase because the new defence minister wanted to show that “there will be a price to pay” to curb corruption.
Green added that “entrepreneurial” investigators might see building a criminal case against a general as a great opportunity for career advancement.
But corruption is so rampant that it could cause panic throughout the system.
If officials are arrested for conduct that was previously illegal but tolerated, the “red lines” could shift, Green said.
He said that if arrests continued or spread beyond the defence ministry, it could lead to a finger-pointing and cause officials to “go on the run”, something the Kremlin wanted to avoid.
Green said the system was built on corruption and that attacking it too hard could cause it to “collapse.”