British intelligence foresees further arrests of Russian defense officials

Following a series of arrests targeting Russian Defense Ministry officials accused of corruption, British intelligence analysts believe the pattern will prevail.

That’s according to a report by the British Defense Ministry, seen by Ukrinform on X.

It is noted that on May 23 came the reports that Russia’s Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, was detained on suspicion of receiving a particularly large bribe. He was charged under Article 290 Part 6 of the Criminal Code.

The case was the latest in a series of arrests of other high-ranking officials from the Russian Ministry of Defense who are also charged with corruption - Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov and Head of the Human Resources Department Yuriy Kuznetsov.

All these arrests took place after Sergei Shoigu was removed from the post of Minister of Defense on May 12. Shamarin headed the Communications Department of the Russian Ministry of Defense from 2021. One of his predecessors in that position, Colonel General Khalil Arslanov, was also prosecuted on corruption charges back in 2020.

"Corruption is deeply rooted in the Russian MOD, and it is likely that there will be further arrests," believes British intelligence.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, this week a Russian court arrested former commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army, Major General Ivan Popov, on corruption charges. He was removed from his post last year’s July after criticizing the state of the Russian army and high casualties.