High-Stakes Corruption Probe: Russian Defense Officials Under Scrutiny

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced serious corruption charges against Russian defence officials, expected to result in trials. Former deputy defence minister Pavel Popov was detained by a Moscow military court on fraud suspicions. Peskov refrained from commenting on the officials' connections to former defence minister Sergei Shoigu, now Secretary of the Security Council.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Friday that serious charges of corruption against Russian defense officials could lead to a trial.

This week, a military court in Moscow detained Pavel Popov, a former deputy defence minister, on suspicion of fraud. This is the latest in a series of corruption probes involving officials connected to ex-defense minister Sergei Shoigu.

Peskov declined to comment on the connections between the arrested officials and Shoigu, who is currently the Secretary of the Security Council.

(With inputs from agencies.)