The Russian authorities arrested this Thursday Vladimir Verteletskyresponsible for ensuring compliance with state purchases from the Russian Ministry of Defense, under the accusation of “abuse of power.”
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“The head of the department responsible for ensuring the fulfillment of state defense orders Vladimir Verteletsky was accused of abuse of power during the fulfillment of state defense orders,” the spokesperson for the Russian Instruction Committee (CIR) reported on Telegram. Svetlana Petrenko.
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The CIR established that Veteletski concluded and accepted in 2022 works contracted by the Ministry of Defense that were not finishedcausing losses of more than 70 million rubles (more than $776,000).
In recent weeks, corruption accusations have already cost Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov and the director of the portfolio’s Personnel Office, Yuri Kuznetsov, their freedom.
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This week the Russian Justice also sent the former commander of the 58th Army of the Russian Armed Forces, Iván Popov, to preventive detention.
Arrests have multiplied in the Ministry of Defense and in the upper echelons of the Russian army since the end of last April, but The Kremlin denies the existence of a purge and claims that these are, instead, anti-corruption operations. However, this cleansing in the military’s highest echelons has promoted the arrival of technocrats to the front of the Kremlin’s war machine.
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The notorious arrests of senior military officials occur in the midst of a major remodeling in the Ministry of Defense, after the dismissal of the head of the portfolio, Sergei Shoigu, who was replaced by the economist Andréi Beloúsov, with no military experience on his resume.
Several generals and senior defense officials have been detained to restructure the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces, questioned today for their levels of corruption and inefficiency at a time when it seeks to give new impetus to its military offensive in Ukraine.
Putin previously estimated defense and security spending for this year at 8.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).and justified the appointment of Belousov with the need to manage these enormous resources and modernize the Armed Forces and the military industry.
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At the same time, the Russian leader assured that the Army improves its positions on the front “daily”, so there would be no changes in the General Staff.
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Even more so if one takes into account that Russia, the target of Western sanctions, has reoriented its economy towards the war industry, with a 70 percent increase in the federal budget for defense planned for 2024.
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To not make waves, The Kremlin waited for the cabinet reshuffle, after Putin’s re-election in March for a fifth term, before launching its purge.
Corruption in the military leadership was one of the main criticisms of the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, who instigated a rebellion in June 2023 and died two months later in a plane crash in circumstances that remain unclear.
Even so, Prigozhin’s two sworn enemies were not “purged”: former Defense Minister Shoigu was appointed secretary of the Security Council and the head of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, remains in his position.
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The situation (in the army) is serious and the corruption is flagrant.
“The situation (in the army) is serious and the corruption is flagrant,” said a prominent Russian military analyst, who requested anonymity.
In your opinion, Putin is aware that the war of attrition against Ukraine cannot last forever and he is forced to “take radical measures”, “changing the men from the rear”, where “the problems are”.
The goal is to “get results” on the front before the Ukrainian army regains strength with the arrival of new Western weapons and the mobilization of new soldiers. “The most important thing for the Kremlin is to win the war, not defeat corruption,” he maintains.
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