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Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov is the second senior defense official arrested on corruption charges in the past month.
By Anatoly Kurmanaev
Russian security agents arrested a no-nonsense general on Tuesday, expanding the purge of the country’s sprawling Defense Ministry amid a broader reshuffle of its government under President Vladimir Putin.
Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, who oversaw the ministry’s workers’ department, has been arrested on charges of “large-scale” corruption, the Russian Investigative Committee, a federal law enforcement agency, said on Tuesday.
His arrest comes after Putin ignored his former defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, and will replace him with a member of his economic team.
Prosecutors said General Kuznetsov won a bribe from “business interests” between 2021 and 2023, while running to protect state secrets in the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Prosecutors said security agents discovered $1 million worth of money and luxury pieces in a search of Kuznetsov’s home.
A career officer, General Kuznetsov worked in the General Staff for thirteen years before taking up his post at the Ministry of Defence in 2023.
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