Russia detains former deputy defence minister for suspected fraud as corruption probe deepens

By Lucy Papachristou

(Reuters) - A military court in Moscow placed Pavel Popov, a former deputy defence minister, in detention on Thursday on suspicion of fraud in the latest of a string of corruption probes of officials tied to ex-defence minister Sergei Shoigu.

The case against Popov, who has served in his role since 2013, is the third investigation into a senior defence official relating to the construction of a military theme park near Moscow.

The court ordered Popov detained until Oct. 29, Russian media said. He denies guilt, his lawyer told the RIA state news agency.

Popov joins at least a dozen officials who, since April, have been caught up in the biggest wave of corruption scandals to hit the Russian military and defence establishment in years.

In May, soon after the first arrests, President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly removed the long-serving Shoigu as defence minister 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.

Russia is currently engaged in repelling a Ukrainian incursion that began on Aug. 6 and is pressing ahead with its own offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Russian political commentators said the investigation into Popov was clearly linked to a broader anti-graft crackdown undertaken by Belousov against those with ties to Shoigu.

Popov, 67, graduated from a military academy and served for 17 years in Russia's Emergencies Ministry. Shoigu, now secretary of Russia's security council, was head of that ministry from 1991 to 2012.

Popov was relieved of his post as deputy defence minister by presidential decree on June 17 and removed from military service, an online notice shows.   

Journalist Alexei Venediktov said Popov was one of Shoigu's "closest associates", serving as his assistant and then deputy in the defence ministry.

"Now this is, of course, a blow to Shoigu," Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote on Telegram on Thursday.

The clampdown on high-level corruption began on April 23 with the arrest of Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov. At the time, Shoigu was still defence minister, and analysts suggested the investigation into Ivanov - one of Shoigu's 12 deputies - represented a push by a rival "clan" seeking to dilute the defence minister's power and gain wealth and influence.

In mid-May, Belousov, a tough-talking economist with no military experience, was picked by Putin to replace Shoigu.

MILITARY THEME PARK

Since then, a cascade of arrests have followed. They have targeted, among others, officials in charge of military logistics in Ukraine and a commander in charge of a brigade which Kyiv and the West say killed Ukrainian civilians in Bucha in the first weeks of the war there.

All of those under investigation served under Shoigu, who helmed the defence ministry from 2012 until this May.

Russian investigators said in a statement on Thursday that the probe into Popov concerned alleged fraud in relation to the construction of a military theme park.

"In 2021-2024 Popov, responsible for the development, maintenance and operation of the Patriot Park, enriched himself at the expense of this establishment," the Investigative Committee said.

Two other senior defence officials, Major General Vladimir Shesterov and the park's director, Colonel Vyacheslav Akhmedov, were detained earlier this month on suspicion of fraud as part of the inquiry into Patriot Park.

A war-themed tourist attraction near Moscow, 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.

Investigators said Popov, beginning in 2021, had diverted various building materials from the park to his own country house for installation work.

Several properties owned by Popov and his family members, worth more than 500 million roubles ($5.47 million), were being checked as part of the fraud probe, investigators said. 

($1 = 91.3500 roubles)

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, William Maclean and Angus MacSwan)