Russian President Vladimir Putin’s purge of his top military officials continued this week with the arrest of Andrei Belkov, the director of the Defense Ministry’s Military Construction Company.
Belkov, 46, is accused of abuse of power in the execution of a state defense order, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported, citing security agency sources. He was detained for purchasing a tomograph at an inflated price while he was the head of another military organization under the defense ministry—the Main Military Construction Directorate for Special Facilities.
Russia: Timur Ivanov’s subordinate Andrei Belkov arrested. He is Director of Defense Ministry’s Military Construction Company and is accused of procuring a CT scanner at an inflated price, indicating a plot of state funds embezzlement. https://t.co/6VztDH0ZzI pic.twitter.com/BVAt9OSnl2
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) July 24, 2024
“A criminal case has been opened against Andrei Belkov for abuse of power in the execution of a state defense order. The case is being handled by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs,” a source told state-run news agency Interfax on Thursday.
Belkov’s work was supervised by former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who was arrested on April 23 on suspicion of taking bribes. Since Ivanov’s arrest, five other top officials at the ministry and general staff, including Belkov, have been detained by authorities.
“There is a fierce clean-up underway,” a source close to the Kremlin and Defense Ministry told the independent Russian news outlet Moscow Times in May. “There is still a long way to go before the purges are finished. More arrests await us.”
Agentstvo, an investigative Russian site, said Thursday that Belkov’s arrest indicates that Putin’s military purge has not ended.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment by email.
At least six high-ranking military officials have been detained since late April.
Vladimir Putin meets with the Russian Accounts Chamber chairman at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 23, 2024. The Russian president’s purge of his top military officials continued this week with the arrest of Andrei…
VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
The last arrest of a defense ministry official took place on May 24, when Vladimir Verteletsky was charged with abuse of power. Russia’s Investigative Committee said he stands accused of taking a bribe in relation to “work that was not carried out” under a government contract in 2022.
Vadim Shamarin, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, was also detained in May “in connection with the case of alleged fraud,” Kommersant reported at the time. He is reported to be a top aide to Russia’s top general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and had served as deputy chief of the Russian General Staff since 2021.
Yuri Kuznetsov, the head of the Russia’s Defense Ministry’s personnel department, was also detained in May on suspicion of taking a bribe.
Major General Ivan Popov, who had headed Russia’s 58th Army, was “arrested on suspicion of fraud,” state news agency Tass reported on May 21. Prior to his removal from commanding Russian troops in Ukraine’s annexed southern Zaporizhzhia region In July 2023, Popov had criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for failing to provide sufficient support for his troops.
A thorough investigation is being conducted into contracts concluded during Belkov’s leadership of the Defense Ministry’s Military Construction Company, as well as into his personal earnings and his non-official connections, Kommersant reported.
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