Russia arrests another former deputy defense minister on corruption charges

Aug. 29 () –

Russian authorities arrested former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov (2013-2024) on Thursday for alleged illicit enrichment, joining the dozen or so senior military officers who have been purged since the arrival of the new head of the ministry, Andrei Belousov, in mid-May.

According to the investigation, Popov enriched himself at the expense of the Patriot Park – a themed facility on the Russian Army and the Soviet victory in World War II – when he was responsible for its maintenance and development, through the acquisition of property and real estate.

“Popov organized construction and repair work, as well as the supply of various material goods to his suburban area in the Krasnogorsk district of the Moscow region at the expense of Patriot Park,” said Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for the Russian Prosecutor’s Office, TASS reports.

The prosecutor’s office is investigating the origin of a series of properties owned by him and his family spread across Moscow and the Krasnodar region, amounting to 500 billion rubles (more than 4.9 million euros).

Along with Popov, the director of the Patriot Park, Vyacheslav Akhmedo, and Vladimir Shesterov, deputy director of the Main Directorate for Innovative Development of the Ministry of Defense, have also been arrested in this case.

Following Belousov’s arrival at the Ministry of Defence in mid-May, at a time when the Armed Forces’ offensives in the war in Ukraine were at a standstill, several senior officers were arrested on suspicion of involvement in lucrative corruption offences.

The most notable case so far is that of Tumur Ivanov, a former deputy minister and considered one of the trusted men of former minister of the portfolio Sergei Shoigu, who now acts as secretary of the Security Council.