Russian Military Official Detained Over Corruption
RUSSIA – Vitaly Melimuk, a Russian military official working as the deputy director general of Patriot Park, which hosts military exhibitions, was detained on Wednesday over corruption, according to the investigative authorities.
Vitaly was detained for accepting a bribe of 18 million rubles (approximately $241,320), according to a statement from the Russian Federation’s Investigative Committee.
The military investigative authorities are pursuing a criminal case against Melimuk for “operations and logistical support” of the Federal State Autonomous Institution “Central Park Patriot” of the Russian Ministry of Defense, it said.
“Melimuk is accused of accepting a bribe on an especially large scale (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation),” it added.
Dozens of Russian military officials have been arrested and sentenced for corruption in a campaign that began in April 2024 with the arrest of Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov and intensified after Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed economist Andrey Belousov to replace Sergey Shoygu as defense minister.
The wave of arrests has been extensive, marking one of the most significant corruption crackdowns in modern Russian military history.
