ChrisO_wiki Profile picture
Jun 13, 2022 24 tweets 11 min read Read on X
1/ What do jewelry, cash, antiques, watches, mansions and Jennifer Lopez have in common? They've all been sought after by corrupt Russian military officials. In this second 🧵 in a series, I'll look at high-level corruption among Russia's military elite.
3/ Corruption and incompetence have been hallmarks of Russian generalship for centuries. At the 1854 Battle of the Alma, Lt Gen Vasily Kiryakov got drunk on champagne and ordered his regiment to fire on what he thought was the French cavalry. It was actually his own Kiev Hussars. Image
4/ The defeated Russian commander, Prince Alexander Menshikov, fled from the victorious Allies. The French later discovered in his carriage "letters from the Tsar, 50,000 francs, pornographic French novels, the general’s boots and some ladies’ underwear." Image
5/ Corruption at all levels persisted through the Soviet period, before exploding into open view after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Yeltsin era was dominated by so-called "wild" or "gangster" capitalism, in which anything and everything was for sale - at the right price.
6/ The 1990s were the high-water mark for so-called 'general thieves' in Russia, when the military budget was plundered to an unbelievable extent - losses were estimated at over $2 billion. Over 100 generals and admirals were prosecuted.
7/ The prize almost certainly has to go to General Georgy Oleinik, who was jailed in 2002 for illegally transferring $450 million to Ukraine as payment for materials that were never delivered. Most of the money was moved before the contract had even been signed. Image
8/ This kind of scam has been common at high levels in Russia. Another spectacular case was that of Nikolai Ryabykh, head of the Defence Ministry's facilities department, who was convicted in 2016 with businessman Alexander Elkin for a 118 million ruble contract fraud. Image
9/ Elkin, Ryabykh and others had billed the ministry for work that was never done. The money was simply stolen. Where did it go? In Elkin's case, he was arrested the day before his 50th birthday, for which he had organised a huge birthday party likely costing millions of rubles.
10/ The party included hiring a palace, antique tablecloths and curtains, gilded candelabra on the tables, fireworks and meeting guests with artists dressed as in the form of royal lackeys. Jennifer Lopez was reportedly hired to give a private performance. Image
11/ Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov was among Elkin's guests. A few months later, Russian police raided the 13-room luxury Moscow apartment of Yevgeniya Vasileyva, a glamorous 33-year-old blonde. They were surprised to discover Serdyukov was also there, dressed in a bathrobe. Image
12/ Vasileyva's apartment contained over $3 million in jewelry, cash, antiques and 19th-century artwork which had been "borrowed" from the museum of the Russian Defence Ministry. She was duly put under house arrest while investigations continued.
13/ Even for Russia, this was too big a scandal to overlook. The trail led back to Serdyukov, who served both as the Defence Minister and also chair of Oboronservis, a giant facilities company. Vasileyva was a director of the company, despite her lack of obvious qualifications. Image
14/ Serdyukov already had a towering reputation for corruption: "he's stolen everything that isn't nailed down", as one subordinate said afterwards. He had appointed a series of attractive young women, dubbed "the Amazons" or "the ladies' battalion", to senior positions. Image
15/ One such was an aspiring poet named Marina Chubkina, a 31-year-old former TV presenter and aspiring poet. She was given a rank equivalent to major general and was placed in charge of the maintenance of Russian chemical and nuclear facilities. Image
16/ Serdyukov was fired by Vladimir Putin a few weeks later. He was accused of a variety of scams, but was charged only with "negligence" for ordering the army to build a road from a village to a private country residence. He was amnestied by Putin in 2014.
17/ In all, the corruption scandals surrounding Serdyukov were reported to have cost the Russian government at least 3 billion rubles ($60 million) - and that was likely the tip of the iceberg. It's unlikely that much if any of the money was recovered. Image
18/ Putin replaced Serdyukov with Sergei Shoigu, previously Russia's minister for emergencies, in 2012. Shoigu - who is one of the architects of the present war in Ukraine - was brought in as a supposedly clean pair of hands. Image
19/ However, only three years later the Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny's organisation exposed Shoigu as the likely owner of an $18 million luxury mansion outside Moscow. It's registered in the name of his 18-year-old daughter. Shoigu's annual salary is $120,000. Image
20/ And so it goes. Far from improving under Shoigu's "clean hands", Russia's problem of military corruption has got even worse since Serdyukov's sacking a decade ago, according to the Russian government itself.
21/ In the next thread in this series, I'll look at the social and organisational factors behind the endemic corruption in Russia's armed forces, and highlight the consequences for its military effectiveness. /end

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More from @ChrisO_wiki

Oct 8
1/ A Russian soldier has described how he was ordered by a drunken colonel to shoot his own comrades for retreating from a battle near Klishchiivka in eastern Ukraine. His account highlights the Russian practice of executing soldiers to encourage them not to retreat. ⬇️
2/ The unidentified soldier says that he has been fighting near Klishchiivka, east of the contested Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka. According to his account, he received only three days' training in Vladikavkaz, after which he was immediately sent to the front line. Image
3/ He says that the men with him were sent to assault Ukrainian positions west of Klishchiivka but were totally unprepared and began to retreat under fire. However, his commander ordered that if they continued with their retreat, they were to be shot by their own side.
Read 8 tweets
Oct 8
1/ 'HELL NO WE WON'T GO', part 4: what can be done to make going to war more attractive for increasingly sceptical Russians? ⬇️ Image
2/ Russian warblogger Alex Kartavykh received thousands of responses to his question of why his followers are "still not storming Pokrovsk". The first thread in this series summarises what respondents gave as their reasons for not joining the army:
3/ The second part highlights representative examples collated by Kartavykh into a number of categories.
Read 19 tweets
Oct 8
1/ 'HELL NO WE WON'T GO', part 3: why many Russians don't want to go to war any more. ⬇️ Image
2/ After Russian warblogger Alex Kartavykh asked his followers on Telegram why "you're ... still fixing a stove in civilian life ... and you're still not storming Pokrovsk", he received no fewer than 4,396 responses. This thread continues a look at what they said.
3/ The first thread in this series summarises what respondents gave as their reasons for not volunteering to go to war:
Read 22 tweets
Oct 7
1/ 'HELL NO WE WON'T GO', part 2: why many Russians don't want to go to war any more. ⬇️ Image
3/ Kartavykh has collated quotes from his respondents into a number of categories, and highlighted representative examples. They provide a rare insight into unfiltered Russian public opinion, which isn't normally on display like this:
3/ Kartavykh has collated quotes from his respondents into a number of categories, and highlighted representative examples. They provide a rare insight into unfiltered Russian public opinion, which isn't normally on display like this:
Read 25 tweets
Oct 7
1/ Recruitment to fight in Ukraine is drying up to the rate of "a teaspoon a day," despite very generous salaries and bonuses, according to a Russian government official. Thousands of Russian Telegram users have responded to explain why they don't want to join the army. ⬇️ Image
2/ Warblogger Alex Kartavykh has written a commentary on why Russian civilians are increasingly wary of signing military contracts, despite very lucrative salaries and bonuses. The reasons why seem to be escaping those responsible for recruitment.
3/ "I recently had an interesting conversation with someone who could, in principle, be considered a representative of the state. He's not to blame for any of our troubles, and in fact, he's basically just passing by, because that's his job description.
Read 23 tweets
Oct 7
1/ Three years of gruelling warfare and constant fear of attack, day and night, has left Russian soldiers exhausted and desperate for it to end, even as fresh soldiers are shovelled into the meat grinder. One soldier describes the grim scene among the hills of western Donetsk. ⬇️ Image
2/ "The chalk mountains, so unassuming against the backdrop of the kilometres-high, snow-capped giants, certainly make a deceptive impression on the traveler from afar. What's the issue with climbing a hundred metres, really?
3/ "Only when you're lugging several dozen kilograms of gear, wearing armour, with stinging blisters instead of heels, with your nose clogged with lime dust, do you begin to curse the damned hills.
Read 20 tweets

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