A Moscow military court on Thursday detained Pavel Popov, a former deputy defense minister, on suspicion of fraud in the latest in a series of corruption investigations into officials linked to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The case against Popov, who has held his post since 2013, is the third investigation into a senior defense official related to the construction of a military theme park near Moscow.
The court ordered Popov to be held in custody until October 29, Russian media reported. He denies his guilt, his lawyer told the state news agency RIA.
Popov joins at least a dozen officials who have been caught up in the biggest wave of corruption scandals to hit Russia’s military and defense establishment in years since April.
Last May, Putin unexpectedly dismissed Shoigu and replaced him with an economist
In May, shortly after the first arrests, President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly dismissed the long-serving Shoigu as defense minister and replaced him with economist Andrei Belousov, in what was widely seen as a move to ensure tighter management of Russia’s vast defense budget and root out waste and corruption.
Russia is currently engaged in repelling a Ukrainian incursion that began on August 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-corruption offensive launched 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 defense minister by presidential decree on June 17 and retired 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 at the Defense Ministry.
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