The Kremlin authorities, led by the dictator Vladimir Putin, are trying to imitate the fight against corruption in the defense sector in order to increase confidence in the military leadership.
Points of attention
- The Kremlin authorities under Putin are simulating the fight against corruption in the defence sector to increase confidence in the military leadership.
- Russia's new personnel policy, linked to arrests and the appointment of a new defence minister, aims to maximize military resources and get rid of inconvenient officials.
- The analysis shows that despite Putin's statements about fighting corruption, there have been no significant changes in the work of the Russian defence departments.
- Experts believe that corruption among top management is used as a tool of political pressure and control and a way to remove unnecessary officials.
- According to experts, the general level of mistrust in the leadership causes a total settlement of accounts and a struggle to control military resources under the guise of fighting corruption.
Why has Putin resorted to simulating fighting corruption in the defence sector?
Journalists of the publication note that for many years, the Ministry of Defence of the aggressor countries and other defence departments suffered from corrupt arbitrariness. However, the Kremlin dictator decided to carry out large-scale purges to increase trust in the military leadership.
So, last month, Andrii Belousov, an economist close to Putin, was appointed to the post of head of the Russian Defense Ministry instead of Sergei Shoigu.
Since April of this year, five high-ranking officials have been arrested in Russia, including the deputy head of the Ministry of Defense of the aggressor country.
The FSB and the Investigative Committee created a special investigative group to root out corruption in the army, preparing grounds for new arrests.
Despite Putin's statement about fighting corruption actively, analysts note that there have been no tangible changes in the work patterns of Russian defence departments.
According to Kirill Shamiev, a military analyst at the European Council on International Relations, Russia's inherent corruption among the country's top leadership is used to exert political pressure and control.
When someone needs to be removed, it is almost always possible to use corruption and say that this person committed a crime and should be put in prison, — Shamiev explains.
Shoigu's appointment to a new leadership position underscored that Putin attaches great importance to loyalty.
What analysts say
Kyrylo Shamiev believes the recent arrests were designed to instil fear and respect after Belousov was appointed Minister of Defence.
It also makes it clear to the Russian public that all failures in the war are the fault of the military and no one else, especially Putin himself, the analyst notes.
According to Dmitry Minik, an expert on the Russian army at the French Institute of International Relations, the recent arrests aimed to maximize military resources.
According to him, the Kremlin uses accusations of corruption as an excuse to get rid of inconvenient officials.
According to Minik, this most often indicates a struggle between departments.
The accumulation of dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war in Ukraine opens the way to a total settlement of accounts, which is carried out with the connivance of the Kremlin, against the background of the influx of resources to the Ministry of Defense and the struggle for control over them, the expert notes.
