Another Russian Major Military Official Arrested for Bribery

The military court arrested Lieutenant-General Vadim Shamarin, head of the Armed Forces Main Communications Directorate and deputy chief of the General Staff. Shamarin’s house was searched in the criminal case of alleged fraud, as a result he was taken for questioning to the Main Military Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee. The case is being considered by the 235th garrison military court. Shamarin was arrested on 22 May for two months, he is charged with taking a bribe on a particularly large scale (part 6 of article 290 of the Criminal Code). The detention of the Main Communications Directorate head means a review of the activities and potential complaints about the activities of Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov. Earlier, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov and Lieutenant-General Yury Kuznetsov, head of the Defense Ministry’s main personnel department, were detained and arrested. They are both accused of taking a bribe on a particularly large scale (part 6 of article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code). Yuri Kuznetsov is accused of taking bribes totaling 30.5 million rubles. Timur Ivanov is accused of receiving 1.185 billion rubles. On 17 May, former commander of the 58th Army of the Southern Military District Ivan Popov was arrested in a case of fraud (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code).