Russia arrests another senior Defense Ministry official in bribery charges amid broader shake-up

Russian authorities have arrested another senior Defense Ministry official on the charges of bribery, a move that comes after President Vladimir Putin replaced the defense minister in a Cabinet shake-up and amid expectations of further purges at the ministry

Russia Cabinet (Sputnik)

Russian authorities arrested another senior Defense Ministry official on charges of bribery, authorities said Tuesday, days after President Vladimir Putin replaced the defense minister in a Cabinet shake-up and amid expectations of further purges at the ministry.

The Investigative Committee, Russia's top law enforcement body, wrote in a statement that Lt. Gen. Yury Kuznetsov, the chief of the ministry’s main personnel directorate, was arrested on charges of bribery and placed in custody pending investigation and trial.

Kuznetsov is accused of accepting an exceptionally large bribe, a charge punishable by up to 15 years in prison, the statement said. The official's home and other properties were searched, the Investigative Committee reported, and the authorities seized gold coins, luxury items and 100 million rubles (just over $1 million) in cash.

Putin replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister Sunday in a Cabinet shakeup that comes as he begins his fifth term in office, moving him to a new post as secretary of Russia's Security Council. He proposed Andrei Belousov, a top economic official, to take over as defense minister. Many expect Belousov to carry out further purges.

Belousov’s candidacy needs to be approved by the upper house of Russia's parliament, but it is widely seen as a formality.

Shoigu’s deputy, Timur Ivanov, was arrested last month on bribery charges and was ordered to remain in custody pending an official investigation. The arrest of Ivanov was widely interpreted as an attack on Shoigu and a possible precursor to his dismissal, despite his close personal ties with Putin.

Shoigu has been widely seen as a key figure in Putin’s decision to send Russian troops into Ukraine. Russia had expected the operation to quickly overwhelm Ukraine’s much smaller and less-equipped army and for Ukrainians to broadly welcome Russian troops.

Instead, the conflict galvanized Ukraine to mount an intense defense, dealing the Russian army humiliating blows, including the retreat from an attempt to take the capital, Kyiv, and a counteroffensive that drove Moscow’s forces out of the Kharkiv region and out of the southern city of Kherson.