Russia’s defense scandal deepens with arrest of new bribery suspect

The Russian Defense Ministry’s human resources chief was arrested on suspicion of bribery after cash and valuables worth more than $1 million were discovered on his property, investigators said Tuesday.

Yuri Kuznetsov’s arrest signals a widening of the biggest government corruption scandal in years, two days after President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly removed Sergei Shoigu as defense minister.

The State Investigative Committee said Kuznetsov was suspected of “receiving bribes on a particularly large scale.”

“According to the investigation, in 2021-2023, as head of the 8th Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Kuznetsov received bribes from representatives of commercial structures for the implementation of certain actions in their favor,” the committee said.

At least five people have been arrested in the scandal, starting with the detention of Deputy Minister Timur Ivanov on the same charge on April 23.

Shoigu was unexpectedly removed from his job on Sunday and given a new role as secretary of Russia’s Security Council. He is set to be replaced by Andrei Belousov, an economist and former deputy prime minister.

Putin’s appointment of Belousov, who has no military background, is seen by analysts as part of a strategy to improve the efficiency of Russia’s war economy as his army pushes further into Ukraine in the third year of the war.

Judging by the arrests, the strategy also includes fighting corruption in the awarding of major military contracts.

Unconfirmed reports from two influential Russian war bloggers said two other deputy defense ministers resigned before Shoigu’s departure.

Kuznetsov could not be reached for comment. The charges against him and Ivanov, the former deputy minister, carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Ivanov denies allegations that he received bribes worth $11 million in real estate services from a construction company in return for contracts.

A Moscow court last week rejected appeals against their detention by Ivanov and his friend Sergei Borodin, who are also accused of taking bribes.

The other men arrested were Alexander Fomin, co-founder of a construction company that allegedly provided the bribes, and Anton Filatov, a former head of several Defense Ministry companies who is suspected of large-scale embezzlement.