Russian President Vladimir Putin’s purge of top military officers continued this week with the arrest of Andrei Belkov, director of the Defense Ministry’s Military Construction Company.
Belkov, 46, is accused of abuse of force in the execution of a state defense order, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported, citing appeals from security agencies. He was arrested for buying a CT scanner at an inflated price while he was head of some of the most important military organizations under the Ministry of Defense: the General Directorate of Military Construction for Special Installations.
Russia: Andrei Belkov, Timur’s subordinate Ivanov. Es the director of the military corporate structure of the Ministry of Defense and is accused of buying a scanner at an inflated price, indicating a conspiracy to embezzle public funds. https://t. co/6VztDH0ZzI pic. twitter. com/BVAt9OSnl2
“Proceedings have been opened against Andrei Belkov for abuse of force in the execution of a state defense order. The case is being processed through the Russian Interior Ministry,” he said on Thursday. the official Interfax news agency.
Belkov’s paintings were overseen by former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who was arrested on April 23 on suspicion of accepting bribes. Since Ivanov’s arrest, five other senior officials from the ministry and general staff, in addition to Belkov, have been arrested by the authorities.
“A relentless clean-up is taking place,” a source close to the Kremlin and the Defense Ministry told the independent Russian newspaper Moscow Times in May. “There is still a long way to go before the purges end. More arrests await us. “
Agentstvo, a Russian investigative website, said Thursday that Belkov’s arrest indicates that the purge of Putin’s army is over.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
At least six senior army officers have been detained since late April.
The last arrest of a Defense Ministry official came on May 24, when Vladimir Verteletsky was accused of abuse of power. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it accused him of accepting a bribe in connection with “work that was not carried out” under a 2022 government contract.
Vadim Shamarin, deputy director of the Russian General Staff, also arrested in May “in connection with an alleged fraud case,” Kommersant reported at the time. He is reportedly the most sensible aide to the Russian Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and has been deputy director of the Russian General Staff since 2021.
Yuri Kuznetsov, head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s workers department, was also arrested in May on suspicion of accepting a bribe.
Major General Ivan Popov, who had led the Russian 58th Army, was “arrested on suspicion of fraud,” the official Tass news agency reported on May 21. He before being removed from command of Russian troops in the annexed region of Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine. . In July 2023, Popov criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for not supplying his troops with enough.
A thorough investigation is underway into contracts concluded under Belkov at the Military Construction Company of the Ministry of Defense, as well as into his non-public sources of income and unofficial connections, Kommersant reported.
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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek journalist based in Kuala Lumpur. She focuses on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Isabel joined Newsweek in 2021 and in the past she has worked with media outlets such as Daily Express, The Times, Harper’s BAZAAR and Grazia. She has a master’s degree in news journalism from City University of London and a bachelor’s degree in journalism. she in Russian language at Queen Mary, University of London. Languages: English, Russian
You can contact Isabel by emailing i. vanbrugen@newsweek. com or by following her on X @isabelvanbrugen
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