The Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow has arrested Nikolai Grachev, the former head of the Department of Problematic Assets at the Main Directorate for the Arrangement of Troops. He, along with two others, is accused of involvement in the theft of over 200 million rubles ($2 million) from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported the arrest on October 17.
Grachev, alongside Alexei Astashkin, a former bankruptcy trustee of the JSC Construction Directorate of the Moscow Region, and Evgeny Potapov, are accused of orchestrating fraudulent auctions during the bankruptcy of a defense enterprise from 2019 to 2021.
The scheme involved the sale of valuable Ministry of Defense properties in Balashikha, near Moscow, which included 15 real estate assets worth more than 244 million rubles.
According to the Moscow Times, all three defendants face charges under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code (Fraud on an especially large scale), and could receive up to 10 years in prison.
A Pattern of Corruption
This arrest is part of a broader anti-corruption campaign within the Russian military.
Just days earlier, Yevgeny Gorbachev, former head of the Main Directorate for Troop Arrangement, was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for embezzling 232 million rubles meant for military facilities in the Arctic.
The ongoing crackdown on Defense Ministry officials has seen several high-profile arrests this year.
In August, Major General Vladimir Shesterov was detained for embezzling funds earmarked for Patriot Park. Other notable arrests include Lieutenant Generals Yuri Kuznetsov and Vadim Shamarin, both charged with large-scale bribery.
Three former deputies of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu—Army General Pavel Popov, General Dmitry Bulgakov, and Timur Ivanov—are also under investigation for fraud and bribery, with accusations totaling billions of rubles.
Sweeping Arrests with Kremlin Backing
The arrest of top-ranking officials within the Russian Defense Ministry is unprecedented in scale.
According to sources quoted by The Moscow Times, the campaign is being carried out with the Kremlin’s approval, with Russia's special services seeking to assign blame for the military's shortcomings in Ukraine.
These arrests, the sources suggest, are also part of a wider effort to gain control over the military's vast financial resources.
In the first eight months of 2024 alone, the Investigative Committee has opened 497 criminal cases related to crimes in the defense sector, specifically targeting state defense orders.
Government insiders indicate that this crackdown is far from over, predicting that hundreds more Defense Ministry officials could be arrested before the year’s end.
