Russia has arrested a general on corruption allegations, state media reported Thursday, making him the third senior-ranking officer to face fraud-related criminal charges over the past month.
A military court placed Lieutenant-General Vadim Shamarin in pre-trial detention until late July, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the court.
“On May 22, the court chose a preventive measure for Shamarin in the form of detention for a period of two months,” a court official was quoted as saying by the agency.
The official added that Shamarin is accused of accepting a bribe “at an especially large scale” while awarding state contracts, but no other details were provided.
The Kommersant business daily reported earlier Thursday that Shamarin, who heads the Russian General Staff’s communications directorate, was accused of unspecified “machinations.”
He is the third active high-ranking military figure to be arrested over the past month in an apparent crackdown in the Russian Defense Ministry.
Authorities said last week that Defense Ministry personnel directorate chief Yury Kuznetsov wasarrested for bribery.
Ex-Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, an ally of former minister and current Russian Security Council chief Sergei Shoigu, became thehighest-profile military figure following his arrest last month on suspicion of bribery.
And an ex-commander who was sacked after he criticized military leaders for high casualty rates in Ukraine was arrested on Tuesday.
The arrests and change of leadership at the Russian Defense Ministry come as Russian forces have made their most significant advances on the battlefield in 18 months with a new major assault on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.
AFP contributed reporting.
