Russia arrests another senior Defense Ministry official in bribery charges amid broader shake-up

By The Associated Press

Russian authorities have arrested another senior Defense Ministry official on the charges of bribery, a move that comes after President Vladimir Putin replaced the defense minister in a Cabinet shake-up and amid expectations of further purges at the ministry. The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top law enforcement body, said in a statement Tuesday that the chief of the ministry’s main personnel directorate, Lt. Gen. Yury Kuznetsov, was arrested on the charges of bribery and placed in custody pending investigation and trial. Putin on Sunday replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in a Cabinet shakeup that comes as he begins his fifth term in office. That move followed the arrest of Shoigu’s deputy, Timur Ivanov, who is also accused of accepting a bribe.