Major General Valery Mumindzhanov, deputy commander of military logistics for the Leningrad Military District, was arrested on Sep. 2 for allegedly receiving a bribe of over 20 million rubles ($224,000).
Mumindzhanov's arrest was the latest in a series of investigations and detentions of former and current officials from Russia's Defense Ministry, in what some have characterized as a "purge."
According to Russia's Investigative Committee, Mumindzhanov is accused of receiving the bribe while helping facilitate defense ministry contracts for military uniforms.
Investigators determined that Mumindzhanov and his family own several properties in Moscow and Voronezh worth a combined total of 120 million rubles ($1.3 million). The legality of the property acquisitions is being determined, the Investigative Committee said.
Mumindzhanov is the sixth official to be arrested who is connected to Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, who was the defense minister until his dismissal in May 2024.
In August, Vladimir Pavlov, the head of the Russian military's clothing and food supplier Voentorg, was detained on fraud charges.
The previous month, Dmitry Bulgakov, who formerly served as a Russian deputy defense minister until September 2022, was arrested on corruption-related charges.
The day before, Andrei Belkov, the head of the military construction company linked to Russia's Defense Ministry, was arrested on suspicion of corruption.
Belkov was previously supervised by former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who is currently also under investigation on corruption-related charges.
In May, Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, the head of the personnel department of the Russian Defense Ministry, was detained on criminal charges, and Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, a deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff and head of the Main Directorate of Communications, was arrested for allegedly receiving a large bribe.
There has also been an ongoing corruption scandal related to Moscow's "Patriot Park," which has so far resulted in the arrest of three defense ministry officials.
Abbey Fenbert
