Support The Moscow Times!

Top Military Officials Shuffled Amid Corruption Investigation

President Dmitry Medvedev has replaced several senior military officials, including the commander of the ground forces, amid a corruption investigation that calls for more dismissals.

Medvedev has dismissed General Vladimir Boldyrev, head of the ground forces, because he reached the retirement age of 55 and replaced him with Colonel General Alexander Postnikov, chief of the Siberian Military District, Interfax reported Wednesday.

Lieutenant General Vladimir Chirkin has replaced Postnikov as chief of the Siberian Military District.

Lieutenant General Alexander Galkin, meanwhile, has replaced Colonel General Sergei Makarov as chief of the North Caucasus Military District, which is responsible for any federal military operations in Chechnya.

In the Leningrad Military District, Major General Ivan Buvaltsev has replaced Lieutenant General Andrei Tretyak as first deputy chief, and Tretyak has been appointed chief of the main operations directorate of the General Staff, replacing Major General Sergei Surovkin.

Medvedev is also considering dismissing the chief of the 58th Army in the North Caucasus Military District, Anatoly Khrulyov, who will turn 55 in June, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.

  Meanwhile, an investigation carried out by the Defense Ministry and the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office on orders from Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has revealed corruption in the ground forces, the air force, the airborne forces and the railroad forces, Interfax reported. Ministry investigators have recommended that a number of senior officers implicated in the inquiry be dismissed, the report said.

The government lost more than 2.5 billion rubles ($84.7 million) as a result of military corruption last year, said Alexander Nikitin, a senior official in the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more