Russian ex-deputy defense minister arrested on corruption charges

Dmitry Bulgakov, who formerly served as a Russian deputy defense minister until September 2022, was arrested on July 26 on corruption-related charges, Russia's Investigative Committee reported.

In his previous position, Bulgakov was in charge of the military's logistics chains during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His dismissal was widely seen as a response to the logistic failures that accompanied the early months of Russia's all-out war.

The details of the accusations against Bulgakov were not specified, but the Investigative Committee said he had been remanded into pre-trial detention in Moscow's Butyrka prison.

Bulgakov's arrest was the latest in a series of investigations and detentions of former and current officials from Russia's Defense Ministry, in what some have characterized as a "purge."

The day before, Andrei Belkov, the head of the military construction company linked to Russia's Defense Ministry, was arrested on suspicion of corruption.

Belkov was previously supervised by former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who is currently also under investigation on corruption-related charges.

In May, Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, the head of the personnel department of the Russian Defense Ministry, was detained on criminal charges, and Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, a deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff and head of the Main Directorate of Communications, was arrested for allegedly receiving a large bribe.

High-ranking officials arrested for alleged budget theft in Russia’s Karachay-Cherkessia, FSB says

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the “organized group” of individuals, which included government and law enforcement officials, allegedly stole money from a state-funded agricultural development program in Karachay-Cherkessia.

The Kyiv IndependentNate Ostiller