YET another Russian general faces prison over trumped-up bribery charges in a suspected purge by Vladimir Putin’s secret service cronies.
And a further top brass defence official has been arrested over “corruption charges”, marking the latest move by a paranoid Putin to shake out his inner circle.
Vadim Shamarin, the latest Russian general to face arrest
Shamarin (right), faces 15 years in Russian prison
East2WestKuznetsov pictured behind Russia’s ex-Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu[/caption]
Lt-Gen Vadim Shamarin, 52, has been accused of receiving a “particularly large bribe” and faces 15 years in jail.
The Kremlin puppet – whose home was raided by the FSB – works as deputy chief of the general staff for Putin’s warped armed forces.
He also heads communications for the army – as it wages a horrific and illegal war in Ukraine.
The committee also announced the arrest of Vladimir Verteletsky – an official from the defence ministry’s department for ensuring state orders.
It said Verteletsky had “been charged with the abuse of his official powers” and has also been placed in detention.
Investigators accuse Verteletsky of taking a bribe in relation to a government contract in 2022, the first year of Moscow’s offensive costing the state “over 70 million rubles” (£600m).
The two arrests follow a string of similar and sudden arrests.
Lt-Gen Yuri Kuznetsov, 55, was dragged from his bed at 5am and arrested by armed cops just days ago.
Putin’s police, clad in balaclavas, smashed into his home using crowbars to take him into detention.
He faces “criminal charges over state secrets” and was taken away to be interrogated.
Kuznetsov was in charge of the ministry’s main personnel department but his detention was linked to a previous role guarding military state secrets.
Investigators said they found £875,000 in roubles and foreign currency as well as “gold coins, collectable watches and luxury items” after searching his house.
Russian despot Putin, currently wading through the major battles in Kharkiv, recently fired his long-term Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
He replaced Shoigu with economist Andrey Belousov and charged him with rooting out corruption in the Russian war machine.
Shoigu’s own deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov, 48, was detained and handcuffed by heavily armed FSB officers at his doctor’s surgery as he went for a medical check up.
He faces charges of accepting bribes totalling more than £10million.
Three more defence ministers have also resigned suddenly – Sergei Tsalikov, 67, first deputy for military-technical support, Alexey Kryvoruchko, 48, and deputy defence minister Tatiana Shevtsova, 54.
An expert has said more top brass arrests are coming as part of Putin’s major purge in high-ranking Russian circles.
Political scientist Valery Solovey said: “There are three more generals and a couple dozen colonels on the detention list.
“Mostly from the General Staff, the active army, but also from other law enforcement agencies.”
