The head of a major military theme park and the deputy head of the defense ministry’s innovations directorate have been detained by Russian authorities on suspicion of embezzling over 40 million rubles (€ 431,000).
Vyacheslav Akhmedov was the director of Patriot Park, a 5,400-hectare exhibition of military hardware intended to engender patriotism in Russia’s youth. He was detained by Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top criminal investigation agency, along with Major General Vladimir Shesterov, deputy head of the Russian defense ministry’s Directorate for Innovative Development, the agency said on Monday.
The two men accused of fraud are the latest in a series of high-profile arrests of military top brass seen as close to Sergei Shoigu, the former defense minister dismissed by Vladimir Putin in May. Russian law enforcement officials told state news agency TASS the men were believed to have stolen more than 40 million rubles during procurement procedures for Patriot Park and that there may be further suspects in the case.
U.S. military think-tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited a Russian military blogger critical of the country’s military leadership as saying Akhmedov and Shesterov were part of the “old team” that controlled the defense ministry under Shoigu. The blogger hailed the arrests as indicative of Shoigu’s diminishing influence.
Patriot Park is reported to have been a pet project of Shoigu’s and its construction was overseen by Timur Ivanov, a former deputy defense minister detained on bribery charges in April. Commentators have linked the spate of detentions to a desire by the Kremlin to “clean house of Shoigu’s old guard affiliates,” ISW said.
Shoigu was widely seen as responsible for Russia’s setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine and stood accused of corruption and incompetence by Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of mercenary group Wagner. In June 2023, Prigozhin staged a military coup attempt in part to demand Shoigu’s ouster.
An unofficial source described by ISW as having “previously correctly predicted several command changes within the Russian ministry of defense” has suggested the next big name to face arrest may be Army General Pavel Popov, who was recently dismissed as a deputy defense minister.
ISW cited an unnamed insider as saying Lieutenant General Alexander Shestakov, who heads the ministry’s Main Armored Directorate, may also soon lose his position.
The two men accused of fraud are the latest in a series of high-profile arrests of military top brass seen as close to Sergei Shoigu, the former defense minister dismissed by Vladimir Putin in May. Russian law enforcement officials told state news agency TASS the men were believed to have stolen more than 40 million rubles during procurement procedures for Patriot Park and that there may be further suspects in the case.
U.S. military think-tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited a Russian military blogger critical of the country’s military leadership as saying Akhmedov and Shesterov were part of the “old team” that controlled the defense ministry under Shoigu. The blogger hailed the arrests as indicative of Shoigu’s diminishing influence.
Patriot Park is reported to have been a pet project of Shoigu’s and its construction was overseen by Timur Ivanov, a former deputy defense minister detained on bribery charges in April. Commentators have linked the spate of detentions to a desire by the Kremlin to “clean house of Shoigu’s old guard affiliates,” ISW said.
Shoigu was widely seen as responsible for Russia’s setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine and stood accused of corruption and incompetence by Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of mercenary group Wagner. In June 2023, Prigozhin staged a military coup attempt in part to demand Shoigu’s ouster.
An unofficial source described by ISW as having “previously correctly predicted several command changes within the Russian ministry of defense” has suggested the next big name to face arrest may be Army General Pavel Popov, who was recently dismissed as a deputy defense minister.
ISW cited an unnamed insider as saying Lieutenant General Alexander Shestakov, who heads the ministry’s Main Armored Directorate, may also soon lose his position.
Source: PAP, Institute for the Study of War, AP
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