Russian General Arrested on Bribery Charges Demanding $1.4 Million in Kickbacks

A military court has arrested Major General Mirza Mirzayev, the Deputy Head of Logistics for the Russian National Guard, on charges of bribery, according to TASS, which cited a law enforcement source.

The source did not provide further details.

Russian state media RIA Novosti also reported that a criminal case for bribery has been opened against Mirzayev.

The Telegram channel Mash stated that the 52-year-old Mirzayev allegedly demanded 140 million rubles (approximately $1.428 million) from a supplier of prefabricated building modules and "threatened to terminate a 480-million-ruble (approximately $4.896 million) contract if the money was not paid." According to the channel, the supplier transferred the funds to the general through an intermediary.

Mirzayev's defense requested house arrest, but the court ruled in favor of detention in a pre-trial facility, citing the “severity of the crime during the ongoing special military operation .”

Major General Mirzayev will remain in custody until January 2, 2025.

At the end of September, a Russian military court arrested former head of the Aviation Technical Service of the National Guard, Colonel Oleg Gamayunov. He is charged with large-scale fraud, estimated in 80 million rubles (approximately $816,000), that was made in a the state-defense order for control systems of flight vehicles and complexes, reports "RBC." According to the investigation, Gamayunov was part of an organized criminal group created to embezzle budget funds, stated Alexander Khinshtein, head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy.