Deputy head of the Russian General Staff arrested in Moscow
Arrests of high-ranking officers continue in Russia, reports BBC. Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, was arrested on charges of accepting a large bribe, according to Kommersant.
Shamarin is also the vice chief of the General Staff under Valery Gerasimov.
A source within the security forces informed that a search was carried out as part of the criminal case against the general. As a result, Shamarin was taken for interrogation to the Main Military Investigation Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia.
The court reported that Shamarin was arrested for a period of two months for accepting a particularly large bribe.
Arrests of corrupt generals
Several high-ranking generals have been arrested in Moscow recently. In April, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was arrested on corruption charges. In May, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a bribery ring. Also in May, the former commander of the 58th Army of the Southern Military District, Ivan Popov, was arrested on fraud charges.
Additionally, in a move with significant implications for the Russian political landscape, after entering his fifth presidential term, Vladimir Putin fired Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, appointing him Secretary of the National Security Council. Nikolai Patrushev, who had headed the Security Council since 2008, became Putin’s aide.
