Arrest of the Deputy Chief of Staff in Russia on Corruption Charges

In a new chapter of corruption involving some Russian military officials, the military judiciary has arrested the Chief of Communications in the Russian army, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, General Vadim Shamarin, for two months pending investigation on bribery charges. A judicial source reported today, Thursday, that the court approved the military prosecution's request and ordered the accused to be detained for two months according to the "Novosti" agency. It was added that the accused faces a prison sentence of 15 years if convicted. It is noteworthy that the Russian Investigative Committee had arrested the Deputy Minister of Defense, Timur Ivanov, at the end of April for suspected bribery. In mid-May, the committee announced the arrest of Yuri Kuznetsov, the head of the eighth directorate in the General Staff, also on bribery charges related to commercial entities. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed at that time that the investigations occurring in the Ministry of Defense involving General Staff officer Yuri Kuznetsov and previously Deputy Minister Timur Ivanov are "a case being exclusively handled by the investigative authorities."