Russia is prosecuting an officer for taking bribes from soldiers to send to Syria
Russian media have reported the trial of a Russian officer, for receiving bribes from soldiers and officers to serve with the forces in Syria.
According to the Russian Kommersant newspaper, Tuesday, 26 May, accusations were made against the leader of the Russian forces Nikolai Zykin, of receiving funds from officers and soldiers to include their names on the lists sent to Syria.
The newspaper pointed out that the Russian Armed forces leadership assigned Zekin to choose “reliable military personnel”, to be included in the lists of travelers to Syria.
However, Zekin obtained 50,000 rubles ($ 700) from officers, and 15,000 ($ 212) from regular soldiers, sergeants, and lieutenants, in order to include their names.
The newspaper confirmed that Zekin was involved with officer Anton Danilovsky in the operation, and they got my amount of 340 thousand rubles for the first, and 140 thousand rubles for the second.
The court previously sentenced Danilovsky to one and a half years in prison, stripped him of the rank of captain, and recovered the amount he received in the form of bribes, and because of the lack of cash, he decided to confiscate the land he owns, while Zekin his trial was postponed to next Friday due to the procedures of the Coronavirus.
According to Kommersant newspaper, “The official income of the military to Syria according to the rank is about 200-300 thousand rubles per month (2800- 4200 dollars) in addition to receiving additional payments and acquiring the status of veteran and other benefits”.
The second Western military court in Russia had sentenced General Sergei Chuvarkov to three years in prison, for stealing more than 400 million Russian rubles (6.5 million dollars).
According to the Russian “TASS” agency, Chuvarkov, who used to head the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, was convicted of large-scale fraud and salary theft of 4.3 million rubles from seven subordinates.
Chuvarkov, who was also deputy commander of the Military Academy of the General Staff, concluded a contract between the Military Academy and a large company specializing in information protection, and worked to withdraw the money that was supposed to be paid to the academy’s employees as wages.
