Ex-Russian general jailed for seven years over bribes

A former top Russian general has been jailed for seven years after being accused of taking bribes.

Lt Gen Vadim Shamarin was arrested last year during a crackdown on corruption in the defence ministry launched by the Kremlin, and was accused of taking "a particularly large bribe" from a telecommunications company.

Russia's Investigative Committee said he took bribes worth 36 million roubles (£331,000) between 2019 and 2023 from a factory that produces communications equipment - and, in return, increased the size of state contracts awarded to the company.

Prior to his arrest he had served as deputy chief of the army's general staff overseeing the signals corps and military communications.

Russia's Tass news agency quoted Shamarin's lawyer as saying: "In total, Shamarin was sentenced to seven years in a maximum security penal colony, a seven-year ban on public service, and was stripped of his military rank."

The court also confiscated 36 million roubles from him, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Shamarin was among several senior defence ministry figures who were detained last year, which also included deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov and Lt Gen Yuri Kuznetsov, head of the defence ministry's personnel directorate.

It came after Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his long-term Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in May 2024.

He was replaced by Andrei Belousov, an economist with little military experience.

Experts suggested that the corruption crackdown marked an attempt by the Kremlin to boost efficiency in the Russian military.