Russian top general detained and charged for fraud, embezzlement
3 Min Read
Major General Vladimir Shesterov has been charged with fraud after his involvement in an embezzlement scheme involving Patriot Park.
-
Russian Major-General Vladimir Shesterov in an undated photo (Russian Defense Ministry)
One of Russia's top generals was involved in the alleged embezzlement scheme of state funds at Patriot Park, the country's Investigative Committee revealed.
Major General Vladimir Shesterov, the deputy chief of the Main Directorate for Research and Development at the Russian Defense Ministry, was arrested on Monday. The park director, Vyacheslav Akhmedov, was also arrested and jailed.
"According to the investigation, these individuals and their accomplices were involved in the theft of budget funds allocated for the activities and functioning of the Patriot Park and the convention and exhibition center," Svetlana Petrenko, an Investigative Committee spokesperson said.
Shesterov and Akhmedov were charged with fraud. Although the authorities haven't detailed the specific allegations, some Russian media reports suggest they may be involved in corrupt activities amounting to millions of rubles.
In Shesterov's latest income declaration from 2018, he reported earnings of slightly over three million rubles ($35,500), along with a 35-square-meter apartment, a Skoda Yeti SUV, and a Harley-Davidson XG750 motorcycle.
While Akhmedov has been jailed, authorities are still mulling over Shesterov's potential sentence.
What is Patriot Park?
Patriot Park, established in 2015 near the Kubinka Tank Museum, spans 3,500 hectares and features the Armed Forces Cathedral, multiple museums, a hotel, and a convention center. Recently, it hosted an exhibition of NATO vehicles captured in combat against Ukrainian forces.
Late last month, investigators visited Patriot Park and interrogated several employees concerning an investigation into alleged embezzlement involving government contracts worth over 40 million rubles ($470,000). TASS reported that the raid was not related to the case of former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who faced charges of accepting bribes and oversaw Oboronstroy, the Defense Ministry’s construction agency during Patriot Park's construction.
In 2024, Patriot Park supplied "targets for practical small arms shooting" for 149,000 rubles ($1,755) and received 33 government contracts totaling $470,000.
Since Andrey Belousov was appointed head of the Russian Defense Ministry in May, several senior officials in the department have been arrested.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister charged with bribery, loses appeal
In May, the Moscow City Court rejected an appeal made by the legal team of Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who is currently held for "large-scale" bribery charges, calling for his release on house arrest rather than pre-trial facility detention.
According to his lawyer, Murad Musayev, investigators speculated that Ivanov would try to escape from captivity, leave the country, and head to the European Union. Musayev denied the risks, noting that his defendant was on several sanction lists, making it difficult for him to be a fugitive in another state.
Ivanov is accused of receiving bribes of a whopping one billion rubles, the equivalent of $10.8 million. They reportedly came in the form of property services, claiming military construction contractions built him free facilities. His lawyer denied all allegations.
Moreover, the co-founder of the construction company that provided the bribes and services, Alexander Fomin, and the former chief of several defense ministry companies, Anton Filatyov, were also arrested under corruption and embezzlement charges.
