37/ In one prosecuted instance, a commander and guard captain extorted over 137,000 rubles from their subordinates "for the needs of the division", threatening otherwise to "write a report on the improper performance of their official duties." They likely pocketed the money.
Full-scale invasion and national resilience, broadcasted live.
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Russian media censorship hides many unreported and unprosecuted cases.
38/ It should be noted that the cases above, which were reported in Russia's heavily censored media, are just the tip of the iceberg. Many more cases are never detected, or if detected, never prosecuted, or simply covered up.
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Air Force officers caught selling top-secret Su-27 parts for $250,000
33/ Two Air Force officers, Lt Col Vladimir Storozhuk and Senior Warrant Officer Ivan Tolkachev, maintained a lucrative racket in Kubinka selling spare parts for planes and ammunition. They were caught after trying to sell top-secret Su-27 components for $250,000.
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Colonel Serkin Accused of Corruption: Bribes for Low-Quality Codfish and Luxury Assets
31/ In only two years in his position, Col Serkin acquired several apartments, a house and an Audi car with a total value of about $200,000. One of his schemes was accepting bribes to purchase 3,500 tons of low-quality codfish, normally used as cattle food, for army rations.
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One in ten Russian officers corrupt, procurement rife with graft
30/ Researchers estimate that as many as one in ten Russian officers are corrupt. Military procurement is particularly rife with corruption. Let's first consider the case of Colonel Sergei Serkin, formerly the chief provisions officer for the North Caucasus Military District.
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Babayan and Ustinov pocketed millions by feeding ‘dead souls’ to troops.
29/ Babayan was responsible for providing food services to troops under Ustinov's command. He forged documents, signed by Ustinov, showing 29,000 more soldiers were being fed than actually existed. The pair pocketed 6 million rubles for feeding the surplus 'dead souls'.
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Exploiting payroll: Stealing wages and ‘dead souls’ for profit
24/ You also have the possibility of stealing your men's wages, as they are paid in cash. Or manipulating budget allocations to claim money for non-existent extra personnel and pocket the difference. Non-existent troops are known as 'dead souls', after a classic Gogol poem.
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Conscript labor abuse extends to elite missile forces, no compensation for work.
23/ Your perks may include using conscripts to build your dacha, or hiring them out to others to work in building sites, fields or factories. Naturally, the conscripts get no compensation for this work. Even Russia's elite missile forces have not escaped this kind of abuse.
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Looting cripples even reserve T-72 tanks sent to Ukraine, only 1 in 10 usable
19/ Even tanks aren't immune to the plague of looting. When reserve T-72s were shipped from storage depots to go to Ukraine in March 2022, they reportedly arrived without electronics, optics or even engines – all looted or stripped out. Only 1 in 10 was reportedly usable.
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Russian bloggers fund troops with stolen supplies, benefiting corrupt officials
18/ Russian bloggers are currently crowdsourcing money to buy equipment for the frontline troops in Ukraine. Ironically, many of the items they're buying were likely stolen from Russian military depots in the first place. These are very good times for corrupt quartermasters.