MOSCOW (AP) — A former Russian Defense Ministry official has been arrested on corruption charges, Russian security services said Friday, the latest in a series of series of high-profile military arrests.
Former Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov has been arrested in Moscow and remanded in custody pending investigation and trial, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement, without providing further details.
Bulgakov was deputy defense minister from 2008 until September 2022, when he was dismissed. He was responsible for logistics at the time and although the ministry had said he would take another job, the move was seen as punishment for deficiencies in support operations in Ukraine.
His ouster came shortly after Kiev quickly gained territory in a counteroffensive in the northeastern region of Kharkov.
Seven senior military officials have been arrested in recent months on suspicion of fraud, bribery or abuse of power. One of them is Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who was arrested in April for bribery and later dismissed.
Bulgakov’s arrest is the second this week, after Andrei Belkov, the head of the Defense Ministry’s construction department, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of abuse of power.
