Russian authorities have criminally charged at least 34 people over failures to fulfill state defense contracts since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported Monday, citing documents posted on the Moscow courts of general jurisdiction website.
Reuters identified at least 11 of the individuals charged as company heads and two as senior executives.
At least five have already been sentenced to prison terms of up to six years.
Around 15 remain in pre-trial detention.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as first deputy of Russia's Military-Industrial Commission, warned defense industry leaders in 2023 that failure to meet contractual obligations could result in criminal penalties.
According to calculations by The Moscow Times' Russian service, 43 criminal cases linked to state defense contracts were filed in courts in the first eight months of 2025, the highest number since the full-scale war began.
By comparison, 34 cases were recorded in 2024, 36 in 2023 and 32 in 2022. Annual cases had never exceeded 23 in the three years before the war.
Among the 43 cases filed from January-August 2025, 28 were directly related to contract failures, 13 to bribery and two to large-scale fraud.
Authorities have more frequently applied articles covering abuse of authority and breach of contract this year, whereas in 2024 nearly half of cases involved fraud.
Bribery cases have also risen, with 13 reported in the first eight months of 2025 compared to seven in 2024, nine in 2023 and 10 in 2022.
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