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Russian Defense Ministry personnel chief arrested for allegedly taking bribe

According to investigators, Yury Kuznetsov, who was the head of the 8th Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, received a bribe from commercial entities in return for doing certain favors for them from 2021-2023

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. Head of the Main Personnel Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Yury Kuznetsov has been detained on suspicion of taking a bribe, and charges have been filed against him, Russian Investigative Committee Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told TASS.

"The Russian Investigative Committee's Main Investigative Directorate has initiated a criminal case against Yury Kuznetsov, head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Main Personnel Directorate. He is suspected of taking a bribe on a large scale (part 6 of article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code)," she said.

According to investigators, Kuznetsov, who was the head of the 8th Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, received a bribe from commercial entities in return for doing certain favors for them from 2021-2023. "During searches at the places of actual residence and registration of the suspect, rubles and foreign currency in the amount of more than 100 million rubles, gold coins, collectible watches and luxury items were found and seized," Petrenko said. According to her, Kuznetsov was taken into custody by the court at the investigator's request.

From 2010 to 2023, Kuznetsov held the position of head of the 8th Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. The Directorate is in charge of protecting state secrets within the Defense Ministry. According to the ministry's website, Kuznetsov was appointed head of the Defense Ministry's main personnel directorate in May 2023.

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