In Russia, Corruption Cases Follow Battlefield Failures

NY Times ^ | 7/26/2025 | Paul Sonne and Milana Mazaeva

[marcusmaximus]

Officials in three of the five Russian regions bordering Ukraine have been accused of embezzling funds for border defenses.

-snip-

The border fortification embezzlement cases seem in part to be aimed at quelling anger among Russians in the border regions over Moscow’s failure to protect them from Ukrainian attacks, especially after Ukrainian forces occupied part of the Kursk region. The charges imply that the border with Ukraine would have been better protected had local officials not stolen the money for the defenses, claims that also deflect blame from the Kremlin.

The legal actions attracted attention this month when Russia’s transportation minister, Roman V. Starovoyt, was found dead, in what authorities called a suspected suicide, hours after the Kremlin announced he had been relieved of his duties. Russian media reported that Mr. Starovoyt, who served as governor of the Kursk region when the border fortifications were ordered, had been implicated in the case.

-snip-

Timur Ivanov, the deputy defense minister sentenced this month to 13 years in prison for embezzlement, had been the target of an exposé by the late opposition campaigner Aleksei A. Navalny’s anti-corruption group. The group documented Mr. Ivanov’s family’s lavish lifestyle, with villa and yacht rentals on the Côte d’Azur and a Rolls-Royce, despite his government salary.

Mr. Ivanov, who oversaw construction for the military, denied the accusations.

Mr. Shoigu’s removal and corruption cases against his longtime underlings, including Mr. Ivanov, have been interpreted by some Russian military bloggers as belated accountability for the military’s failures at the outset of the war.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
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[POGO163]

There you go, dreaming about the future. Russia right now is doing nothing but getting its troops killed.

[POGO163]

Tens of thousands of Drones are destroying Russian infrastructure and killing Russians. Ukraine does not need as many troops with thousands of drones killing Russians at thousands a week.

[SaxxonWoods]

“Tens of thousands of Drones are destroying Russian infrastructure and killing Russians. Ukraine does not need as many troops with thousands of drones killing Russians at thousands a week.”
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated 10:09 PM MDT, July 21, 2025
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The long-range Russian drones come in swarms each night, buzzing for hours over Ukraine by the hundreds, terrorizing the population and attacking targets from the industrial east to areas near its western border with Poland.

Russia now often batters Ukraine with more drones in a single night than it did during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate. On July 8, Russia unleashed more than 700 drones — a record.

Some experts say that number could soon top 1,000 a day.