Dictator Vladimir Putin's decision on military purges surprises even those around him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin several weeks ago dismissed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The FSB investigated a series of cases of corruption in the Ministry of Defense, in which the deputy minister and heads of departments were involved. Many insiders are now calling this a purge in the Russian Ministry of Defense.
This is written by The Guardian.
The new Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, instead of Sergei Shoigu, was appointed Andrey Belousov. Belousov was called the curator of the economic bloc in the government. Putin has tasked him with reducing corruption and optimizing military production for a long war against Ukraine that could be largely decided by industrial production.
But former Defense Ministry and Kremlin officials, former officers and foreign observers said that Shoigu's resignation supposedly allowed the FSB to eliminate influential officials in power.
“The FSB has finally taken over the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff,” said Captain John Forman, former British defense attaché in Moscow.
He believes that arrests may continue after “Putin’s patience has finally run out.”
“Shoigu and Gerasimov were given a buffer, but now Putin decided he needed to do something. Shoigu largely kept the FSB out of the ministry throughout his tenure, with very few arrests. If the FSB angry, who knows how far they will go,” says Forman.
During the war in Ukraine, Shoigu and Gerasimov were criticized by pro-war supporters for the army's failures and their failure to root out widespread corruption in the Russian Armed Forces. Last summer, this discontent reached its climax when the now deceased leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, initiated an unsuccessful uprising against the Russian military leadership.
“In Russia, deep interdepartmental rivalry and the removal of Shoigu may have given investigators in the FSB and the Investigative Committee the opportunity to take on criminal cases against senior leadership in an attempt to gain promotion and praise,” the material says. < /p>
“Putting a real, living Deputy Minister of Defense in prison is the dream of any investigator, this is cool, this is the dream of a lifetime. For this you get new shoulder straps, a promotion, some kind of reward. For this you can earn a reputation,” – said one of the former Kremlin officials.
In the event of a high-level criminal prosecution, Vladimir Putin is likely to be informed personally. It is unlikely that the corruption cases were initiated by the Kremlin itself.
Purges in Russia continue
Within a month, four Russian Defense Ministry officials were arrested on corruption charges, the most significant crackdown at the ministry in recent years. The purge began on April 23 with the arrest of former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov on suspicion of taking a bribe. The Kremlin on Thursday denied any speculation about repression at the Defense Ministry.
“The fight against corruption is a consistent work. This is not a campaign, it is a constant work,” said Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Timur Ivanov was a long-term confidant and protégé of Sergei Shoigu. His detention is believed to have laid the groundwork for the dismissal of Shoigu, who was subsequently replaced as Defense Minister by Andrei Belousov.
Other officials were detained in the following weeks. Among them are the head of the personnel department of the ministry, Yuri Kuznetsov, and the head of the communications department of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, Vadim Shamarin. A few hours after Shamarin’s arrest, the Investigative Committee of Russia also announced the detention of another official of the Ministry of Defense – Vladimir Verteletsky, who headed a department in the department of state defense procurement.
Earlier this month, the Kremlin announced that Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, would retain his post. However, the arrest of Shamarin, Gerasimov’s direct deputy, may weaken the general’s position in the military hierarchy.
“The likelihood of Gerasimov’s dismissal has increased,” John Foreman said.
A former defense official said the arrests showed the balance of power has shifted in favor of Russian security services while the army appears chaotic.
“The FSB Counterintelligence Directorate (1st Directorate) is becoming more and more powerful. Now they hold all the cards and tighten the screws. It’s not that Belousov’s arrival led to purges. After all, Shoigu was a security official (a member of the security elite – ed.) and had their support,” said an official who worked closely with Ivanov and Shoigu.
Russian prosecutors also took on a high-ranking general, the most famous with his criticism of Shoigu and Gerasimov. Major General Ivan Popov,commander of the 58th Combined Arms Group, said last summer that he was fired after he spoke about problems on the battlefield, particularly the lack of counter-battery fire, as well as casualties. Popov is accused of stealing metal worth 100 million rubles. He has already been arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center.
Gleb Irisov, a former Russian Air Force lieutenant who left military service in 2020, said that before the arrests he spoke with an FSB source who told him that the purge of the Ministry of Defense would be caused mainly by the failures of the Russian army in Ukraine.
“Under Sergei Shoigu, the Ministry of Defense came under the strong influence of his personal network. From senior commanders to the lower ranks, key positions were occupied by Shoigu's chosen ones – friends or friends of friends. He even created numerous deputy positions specifically for his allies,” – said Irisov.
Among them is the mistress of Sergei Shoigu, who headed companies that earned millions of rubles on contracts with the Ministry of Defense. Irisov said he regularly discovers substandard equipment in the army, including light bulbs melting at supersonic speeds while flying on the modern Russian Su-35 fighter jet, as well as poor trucks and air defense systems that cannot shoot down modern drones. He said part of their shortcomings were the result of corruption under Shoigu.
“The overall quality of the military suffered as funds were regularly stolen. Military exercises often existed only on paper as the allocated money was withdrawn,” Irisov said.
Recall that secret documents about Putin’s residence in Novo-Ogaryovo were leaked in Russia.
Related topics:
More news
