Vladimir Putin is looking to remove some elements of corruption from his government – but not all of them, according to the UK.
The Russian president has been cracking down on his top officials recently and just arrested a general-major for the second time for allegedly accepting a bribe.
But, the UK’s ministry of defence (MoD) claimed this apparent effort to weed out corruption is not all it might appear to be.
“The goal of Russian authorities is almost certainly not the eradication of corruption entirely; this behaviour is fundamental to the functioning of the regime,” the UK said on Wednesday.
“Instead, Russian authorities are likely seeking to limit corruption to more manageable levels that have a less drastic impact of the function of [each] department.”
The update comes as the Russian Investigative Committee general-major Alexander Oglobin has been arrested and is being held in pre-trial detention.
He allegedly accepted 10 million rubles in bribes from a telecommunications company, “as an inducement to secure Russian ministry of defence contracts”, the MoD said.
He had already served four and a half years in prison in February 2022 in relation to separate embezzlement charge, but secured early release after testifying against his former superior, Vadim Shamarin.
The MoD explained: “Ogloblin’s second arrest demonstrates that Russian authorities continue to enthusiastically pursue corruption charges against serving and former defence officials (appointed in the era of former minister of defence, Sergei Shoigu) even after achieving initial convictions.”
Shoigu was one of Putin’s top allies and the defence minister for 12 years, but the president kicked him out of the job in May this year, instead appointing him as the head of the Russia’s national security council.
Five top officials, including a deputy defence minister, were also arrested.
At the time, it was thought the Kremlin was trying to warn military officials against living a life of excess in a time of war.
Ahead of Oglobin’s arrest, the MoD warned earlier this month that Putin’s apparent attempt to stamp out a bit of corruption was spreading across different departments.
It wrote that there seemed to be a “major crackdown on embezzlement by senior officials below executive or cabinet levels” going on within the Kremlin.