Vladimir Pavlov, the head of the Russian military's clothing and food supplier Voentorg, was detained on fraud charges, law enforcement officials reported on Aug. 1.
Since April, several high-ranking military officials have been arrested on charges ranging from bribery to abuse of power after the dismissal of Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov.
Russia's Interior Ministry spokesperson Irina Vovk claimed that Voentorg's general director "entered into a criminal conspiracy" with several other individuals to sell toiletries to the military at inflated prices.
Vovk did not mention the name of the company's head, but according to the Voentorg website, Pavlov has been its CEO since 2012.
Russian law enforcement agencies estimate that the "organized criminal group" inflated prices by 400 million rubles ($4.6 million) through government contracts between 2019 and 2022.
Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) also recently reported a sharp increase in registered criminal proceedings for bribery in the Russian military.
In the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces alone, the number of criminal cases opened over five months of 2024 due to illegal dismissal from service through bribery has tripled, according to HUR.
Almost half of these proceedings are being investigated in the 8th Combined Arms Army, whose units are deployed in Ukraine.
Another 36% are related to the 58th Combined Arms Army, whose commander was arrested in the spring of this year on corruption charges.
Over 100 bribery cases have been launched against service members of the Southern Military District related to illegal dismissal from service.
These proceedings include 38 cases against military personnel of the 102nd Motorized Rifle Regiment, based near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, 35 cases concerning the 71st Motorized Rifle Regiment, located on the border with Sumy Oblast, and 33 cases concerning the 49th Brigade of the 49th Army.
"The level of corruption in the Russian army has always been high, but previously, such bribery cases were not paid attention to," the statement read.
Martin Fornusek
