The Russian Investigative Committee today detained another high-ranking army officer, Major General Valeri Mumindzhanov, deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District, for allegedly taking bribes worth 20 million roubles (around 200,000 euros).
Mumindzhanov thus joins around a dozen senior army officers who have been arrested since the arrival of the new Defence Minister, Andrei Belousov, in mid-May, as part of an operation against the abuse of power by senior members of the Russian military leadership.
The alleged crime, for which he faces a 15-year prison sentence, dates back to his time as head of the Defence Ministry's resources department, when he signed contracts worth 1.5 billion roubles (15.1 million euros) to supply uniforms to the army in exchange for bribes.
When Belousov arrived at the Ministry of Defence, at a time of some stagnation in Russia's offensives in Ukraine, the fight against corruption was stepped up and several senior officers have since been arrested.
The most high-profile case so far is that of Timur Ivanov, former deputy defence minister and considered one of the trusted men of former minister Sergei Shoigu, who is accused of bribery in the context of contracts and subcontracts for the army.
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