Another Russian general has been arrested on corruption charges as President Vladimir Putin continues to shake up his top military brass with a series of high-profile arrests, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin, deputy chief of the army's general staff and head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, was detained on Thursday after being accused of large-scale bribery, the Associated Press reports.
According to Reuters, Shamarin stands accused of taking bribes of over 36 million rubles ($400,000) in exchange for placing large state contracts with a factory in the Ural mountains that produces communications equipment. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Hours later, Russia's Investigative Committee announced the arrest Vladimir Verteletsky, a senior defense ministry procurement official who was charged with abuse of office resulting in damages worth over 70 million rubles (about $776,000).
The deputy head of the federal prison service for the Moscow region, Vladimir Telayev, was also arrested on charges of large-scale bribery on Thursday following the arrest of Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, a former top commander in Russia's offensive in Ukraine, earlier this week.
These are just the latest examples of Putin's apparent crackdown on military officials that began when Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, a close associate of the recently dismissed defense minister Sergei Shoigu, was arrested for bribery in April.
Lt. Gen. Yury Keznetsov, head of the Defense Ministry's personnel directed, was arrested on similar charges two days after Shoigu was replaced following Putin's inauguration to a new term in May.
Despite the recent wave of arrests, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied that Putin was conducting a purge or campaign against the military.
"The fight against corruption is consistent work. This is not a campaign, it is constantly ongoing work. This is an integral part of the activities of our law enforcement agencies," he said in a conference call with journalists on Thursday.
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"The arrest of Shamarin, deputy chief of the General Staff, is not only an arrest, but also a large-scale audit of the work of the Main Communications (Signals) Directorate by the Audit Chamber," explained Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser.
He said that one of the probe's goals is to "increase the army's morale and equip the army with modern communications equipment and missile and artillery guidance systems" amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.