Russia arrests another high-ranking defense ministry official

MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow on Thursday ordered the head of a Defense Ministry’s construction division to be detained for two months on suspicion of abuse of power, Russian news agencies reported, the latest in a series of arrests of high-ranking ministry officials this year.

Andrei Belkov heads the Military Construction Company, which builds bases, hospitals, schools and other facilities for the military, according to its website. The company came under the supervision of Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who was arrested in April on charges of bribery.

Several other top military figures also have been arrested on charges of fraud or bribery.

The online Russian news portal Meduza cited sources that it did not identify as saying Belkov was arrested in connection with the purchase of a tomography machine at overly high cost during the reconstruction of a military medical center.

He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Ivanov, Belkov’s boss, was a close associate of Sergei Shoigu, whom President Vladimir Putin dismissed as defense minister soon after his May inauguration for a new term.

Shoigu had been widely criticized for Russia’s setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine, and was accused of incompetence and corruption by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who launched a mutiny in June 2023 to demand the dismissal of Shoigu and military chief of staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov.