General Nikitushkin was accused of receiving a particularly large bribe
The investigation incriminates the head of the Department of the Armed Forces Sergey Nikitushkin receiving a bribe in an especially large amount. On the eve of the military court sent him into custody for two months. Major General faces up to 15 years in prison
The Main Military Investigation Department of the TFR has charged the head of the training and material base of the Main Directorate of Combat Training of the Armed Forces, Major-General Sergei Nikitushkin, with receiving a bribe on an especially large scale (part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code), two sources familiar with the investigation of the criminal case told RBC. The general faces up to fifteen years in prison.
On September 30, the 235th garrison military court sent Nikitushkin into custody for two months. The relevant request of the investigation was considered by Judge Artem Karpov. As the interlocutors of RBC specified, the investigator of the GVSU insisted that, while remaining at liberty, the general could put pressure on witnesses, escape from criminal prosecution and otherwise obstruct the investigation. Lawyer Vyacheslav Kalnev asked the military court to release the major-general under house arrest.
RBC sent a request to the Ministry of Defense and the Main Military Investigation Department of the IC.
The General Directorate of Combat Training is responsible for the organization, coordination and development of the combat training system of the army and navy. Its tasks, in particular, include planning, conducting and analyzing military exercises, introducing new methods of training soldiers, providing troops with educational and material means, technical base and normative documents. The department also manages the activities of the Central Military-Patriotic Park of Culture and Recreation of the Armed Forces "Patriot".
There have been several corruption scandals around Patriot Park in recent years. In April, the 235th garrison military court sentenced former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov to 19 years in a strict regime colony, depriving him of the rank of army general. He was found guilty of taking bribes, fraud, illegal possession of weapons, official forgery and abuse of authority.
According to the investigation, in 2022-2024, Popov, together with the former deputy head of the Main Department of Innovative Development Vladimir Shesterov and the ex-director of the Patriot Park Vyacheslav Akhmedov, made deliberately false information about the construction work performed in the park and committed a multimillion-dollar embezzlement of budget funds. According to the calculations of the Investigative Committee, the accomplices stole about 25 million rubles.
Subsequently, the Second Western District Military Court commuted Popov’s sentence to ten years in a strict regime colony. His accomplices Shesterov and Akhmedov received six and five years of general regime colony respectively. They insisted in court that they went to commit crimes, being in service dependence on the general.
