Purges in the Russian Ministry of Defense in 2024

Purges in the Russian Ministry of Defense ("Чистки в Минобороны РФ" ) is a set of organizational measures to verify the compliance of members of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with the requirements imposed on them in 2024. A dozen people lost their posts, and seven of them were arrested. Some publications link the arrests of criminal prosecution officials with the resignation of Sergei Shoigu on May 12.

Chronology of dismissals and arrests
On April 24, 2024, Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov was detained and arrested the next day on charges of a crime under Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As a result of the case, Timur Ivanov was removed from the post of Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

On May 12, 2024, Sergei Shoigu was dismissed and replaced by economist Andrey Belousov. Professor of the Financial University Konstantin Simonov noted:"We can state that large-scale purges have begun in the Ministry of Defense, and decision-making will begin based on the results of inspections carried out long ago. That is, the folders, I think, were on the leaders for a long time, this is not the result of the activities of the new minister, this also applies to Timur Ivanov, and, again, there were rumors that its development had been carried out for several years, that is, long before serious decisions. Now we understand that the situation with Timur Ivanov was a preparation, including for the public, to understand the upcoming decision on the Minister of Defense. In this regard, it was the signal that needed to be correctly caught and digested. Now a serious cleansing, in my opinion, of the ministry itself will begin, and Belousov will be a symbol of this self-renewal."

On May 14, 2024, according to some sources, Sergei Shoigu’s first deputy, Ruslan Tsalikov, submitted his resignation.

First Deputy Minister for Military-Technical Support Alexey Krivoruchko decided to resign of his own free will, and now the FSB and the Investigative Committee are preparing a case of fraud.

On May 14, 2024, Lieutenant General, Head of the Main Personnel Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Yuri Kuznetsov was arrested.

On May 17, 2024, the court arrested Major General, former commander of the 58th Army Ivan Popov and faces up to 10 years in prison for embezzlement amounting to more than 100 million rubles.

On May 20, 2024, Colonel General, Head of the Office of the Russian Minister of Defense in 2013-2024, Yuriy Sadovenko was removed from his post. On the same day, former auditor of the Accounts Chamber Oleg Savelyev was appointed deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

On May 22, 2024, Lieutenant General, Head of the Main Directorate of Communications of the Armed Forces, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, was arrested, allegedly for a bribe.

On May 22, 2024, “in connection with the transition to a new job,” the press secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Rossiana Markovskaya, resigned (Sergei Shoigu appointed her as his press secretary in November 2017).

On May 23, 2024, Vladimir Verteletsky, an employee of the Ministry of Defense Department for State Defense, was detained.

On May 23, 2024, the commander of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army, Sukhrab Akhmedov, was removed from his post. According to Vladimir Rogov, it has only just been removed, but “the situation is evolving”.