Top Russian defense official arrested on bribery charges amid Kremlin shake-up

• Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, a senior Russian defense official, was arrested on bribery charges following a raid on his Moscow villa.
• Kuznetsov is accused of accepting large bribes while serving as the Director of State Secrets at the Military General Staff.
• Federal security agents seized gold coins, luxury goods and more than $1 million in cash from Kuznetsov’s home.

Days after President Vladimir Putin replaced his defense minister in a cabinet reshuffle, a second senior Russian defense official was arrested on bribery charges, officials announced on Tuesday, raising hopes for further purges.

Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, 55, head of the Defense Ministry’s main personnel department, was arrested early Monday in a raid on a villa on the outskirts of Moscow, Russian media reported. He was detained on suspicion of bribery and jailed pending investigation and trial, according to the Investigative Committee, Russia’s top state criminal investigation agency.

Kuznetsov has been charged with accepting “an unusually large bribe” and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. The commission alleges that he accepted bribes in his previous role as director of the military’s General Staff, which is responsible for protecting state secrets, a position he held for 13 years.

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During the raid, Federal Security Service (FSB) agents broke down the doors and windows of his home while he slept, seizing gold coins, luxury goods and more than $1 million in cash, according to reports.

His wife, who previously worked in several organizations of the Ministry of Defense, was also reportedly questioned.

President Putin on Sunday reshuffled his cabinet as he begins his fifth term, appointing economic expert and former deputy prime minister Andrei Belosov to replace Sergei Shoigu, who had served as defense minister for 11 and a half years. President Putin appointed Shoigu as Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, replacing Nikolai Patrushev. This is a role similar to that of the US National Security Advisor.

Patrushev, a hawkish and powerful member of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, who held the position for 16 years, was appointed presidential aide. Alexei Dyumin, governor of the Tula region, who is often mentioned as a possible successor to President Putin, was also named as a presidential aide.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Patrushev would oversee Russia’s shipbuilding industry in his new role, but could take on other duties after that.

He rejected the idea that Shoigu’s appointment meant a demotion, describing his new role as a “very senior position with extensive responsibilities.”

Shoigu, who has personal ties to Putin and has accompanied him on vacations in the Siberian mountains over the years, has been given a new senior role, while the future of top aides at the Defense Ministry is in doubt under Belousov. It looked like there was.

Mr Shoigu’s deputy, Timur Ivanov, was arrested last month on bribery charges and ordered to be detained pending an official investigation. His arrest was widely interpreted as an attack on Shoigu and a possible precursor to his removal.

The reorganization appears to be an attempt to synchronize the defense sector with other sectors of the economy and better control soaring military spending amid allegations of rampant corruption in the military’s top ranks.

Speaking in the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday, Belousov said he had been tasked by President Putin to integrate the defense sector more closely into the national economy.

“This is not an easy task. It is comprehensive and primarily means optimizing military spending,” he said. “First and foremost, optimization means increasing efficiency.”

Although he credited Shoigu with overseeing the modernization of the military, he stressed the importance of achieving Russia’s goals in Ukraine with minimal casualties.

Belousov also mentioned the need to increase the supply of modern artillery and missile systems, drones and electronic warfare assets. He said the military would continue to strengthen its ranks with volunteers, noting there was no need for new mobilization.

Amid military setbacks, President Putin’s partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists ordered in fall 2022 was widely unpopular, with hundreds of thousands fleeing the country to avoid conscription.

In an apparent attack on Shoigu and his cronies, who have been widely criticized by pro-Kremlin military bloggers for hiding the setbacks in Ukraine from Putin, Belousov said: “We can make mistakes, but we can’t lie. He said he intends to act based on the iron-clad principle that “no one’s actions will be tolerated.”

Shoigu is widely seen as a key figure behind Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022, and many Russian hawks have criticized him for overstating Russia’s military capabilities. was.

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He and his chief of staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, had come under heavy criticism from Russian hardliners for military setbacks, including the failure to capture Kiev early in the war and Russia’s withdrawal from northeastern and southern Ukraine later that year. .

The disruption came as Russian forces pressed for a new offensive, seeking to take advantage of a slowdown in Western aid to Ukraine, in what many observers consider a decisive moment in the war. .

The Kremlin sought to allay widespread embarrassment over the choice of an economics expert with no military experience as defense minister by stressing that Gerasimov, who is leading the fighting in Ukraine, would retain his post.

Peskov also denied allegations that the organizational reforms and arrests of senior Defense Ministry officials could disrupt the military structure and influence the situation in Ukraine.