Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Accounts and funds found in the possession of the head of the main personnel department of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, and his family were arrested as part of a criminal case, said his lawyer Sergei Shchegolev.
Kuznetsov himself confirmed the lawyer’s words, noting that he kept all the money in bank accounts or in a safe at home. According to the military official, he provided the money found at home during investigative actions to the investigation, Interfax reports.
Kuznetsov has been charged with receiving a particularly large bribe. He is in custody in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center.
According to investigators, in 2021-2023, Kuznetsov, as head of the Eighth Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, received a bribe in the form of property from businessman Leva Martirosyan for performing actions in favor of the bribe-giver and general patronage.
According to the Kommersant newspaper, the case involves Kuznetsov receiving a bribe from Martirosyan for assistance in concluding government contracts for the provision of hotel services – for this, according to the investigation, the businessman acquired and registered land in Krasnodar for the wife of a military official and built a residential building on it house with an area of more than 1 thousand square meters. m. As noted, the investigation estimates the amount of the bribe at 30.5 million rubles.
The alleged briber, Martirosyan, is also under arrest.
From 2010 to 2023, Kuznetsov served as head of the 8th Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. This body deals with issues of the service for the protection of state secrets within the Russian Ministry of Defense. As stated on the website of the defense department, Kuznetsov was appointed to the position of head of the main personnel department of the Russian Ministry of Defense in May 2023.
On May 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin removed Sergei Shoigu from the post of Minister of Defense and proposed appointing Andrei Belousov to this position.
A few weeks ago, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Timur Ivanov was arrested. He was charged with receiving a bribe on an especially large scale (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, the media wrote about possible suspicions of “treason.”
This was followed by a series of arrests of high-ranking officials of the Russian Ministry of Defense and generals.