Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Six Russian logistics officers have been found guilty of stealing more than 360 tons of aviation kerosene in the Irkutsk region. Each got off with fines equivalent to $627 or less, according to a regional Russian news outlet.

2/ Tayga.info reports that Captain Valery Spivak, instructor Sergey Brovko, senior lieutenant Anton Molchanov, Captain Denis Grebennikov, Captain Dmitry Kutuzov and Major Andrei Chistyakov earned millions of rubles from a series of separate fuel thefts.

3/ Spivak was convicted of forging official records, recording that a much larger amount of kerosene had been used than was actually the case. He earned 819,000 rubles ($10,270) for the theft, which he returned to the state, and was fined 50,000 rubles ($627).

4/ Aviation engineering instructor Sergey Brovko was convicted for a similar scam, refuelling an Il-78 tanker aircraft in December 2021 with 41,000 kg less kerosene than it was supposed to carry. The head of the fuel depot paid him at least 275,000 rubles ($3,448) for the theft.

5/ The fuel was later written off by the Russian Ministry of Defence. The same depot head, a man named Faskhiyev, was involved in another scam involving training squadron engineer senior lieutenant Anton Molchanov, who did not refuel the planes with almost 170 tons of kerosene.

6/ Faskhiyev paid Molchanov 2.4 million rubles ($30,096) but escaped charges himself. He only appeared as a witness in both cases and claimed that Brovko and Molchanov had initiated the scam. Both officers were fined 50,000 rubles ($627) each.

7/ Faskhiyev may well have been scamming the two officers in turn – military court documents record that he bought the kerosene for 11-12 rubles per litre (not per kilogram – 1 litre of kerosene is 0.819 kg), likely earning a substantial margin on the sale of the fuel.

8/ Similar cases of forged refuelling records were heard in the 2nd Eastern Military District Court against Captain Denis Grebennikov, Captain Dmitry Kutuzov and Major Andrei Chistyakov. They were paid at least 1.7 million rubles ($21,318) for writing off about 150 tons of fuel.

9/ Again, the head of the fuel depot was responsible for the corrupt transaction, but was apparently not charged. The three officers pleaded guilty and were each fined between 35,000-50,000 rubles ($439-$627).

10/ Fuel thefts are endemic in the Russian armed forces – many Russian servicemen regard military fuel as a 'second currency' (after rubles) which they freely appropriate, often with the aid of corrupt depot managers who act as middlemen.

11/ During the initial phase of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Russian vehicles ran out of fuel because their drivers or depot managers had sold it to the Belarussians.

Source:
tayga.info/181236