Russia investigates defence official over fraud at military theme park

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian authorities have detained another senior defence ministry official in the latest of a string of corruption investigations, this time related to a military theme park, the state investigative committee said on Monday.

Major General Vladimir Shesterov was detained on suspicion of fraud, it said. Also arrested was Vyacheslav Akhmedov, director of the war-themed Patriot Park near Moscow that is a popular visitor attraction.

"According to the investigation, these persons, together with accomplices, were involved in the theft of budget funds allocated for the activities and functioning of the Patriot Park and convention and exhibition centre," the committee said in a statement.

The park displays a vast collection of Russian and Soviet weaponry, and offers visitors the chance to clamber on tanks and take part in combat simulations. On its website, it also features a photo gallery of "heroes of the special military operation" - Russia's official term for its war in Ukraine.

State news agency RIA said the investigation was examining evidence going back to 2021, and other park employees had also been detained and were being interrogated.

TASS news agency said Shesterov and Akhmedov were suspected of embezzling more than 40 million roubles ($470,000). Their bank accounts had been frozen and they faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

At least a dozen people have now been caught up in the biggest wave of corruption scandals to hit the Russian military and defence establishment for years.

It began on April 23 with the arrest of Timur Ivanov, a deputy defence minister accused of taking bribes from a construction company. Others arrested since then include an army major general and the deputy head of the general staff, as well as businessmen suspected of paying bribes.

The investigations signal a serious effort by the Kremlin to stamp out corruption in the military as its war in Ukraine approaches the two-and-a-half-year mark.

In May, soon after the first arrests, President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly removed long-serving defence minister Sergei Shoigu and replaced him with economist Andrei Belousov in what was widely seen as a move to ensure tighter management of Russia's vast defence budget and eliminate waste and graft.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Heinrich)