Russian security agents detained a senior general early Tuesday, widening a purge of the country’s sprawling Defense Ministry amid President Vladimir V. Putin’s broader shake-up of his government.
Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, who oversaw the ministry’s personnel department, was detained on an accusation of “large-scale” bribery, Russia’s Investigative Committee, a federal law enforcement agency, said in a statement on Tuesday.
His detention came after Mr. Putin unexpectedly removed his long-serving defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, from his post and replaced him with a member of his economic team.
Prosecutors said General Kuznetsov received a bribe from “commercial interests” between 2021 and 2023, when he worked on the protection of state secrets at the Armed Forces’ General Staff. The prosecutors claimed that security agents discovered cash equivalent to $1 million and luxury items during a search of General Kuznetsov’s home.
A career officer, General Kuznetsov worked on the General Staff for 13 years before assuming his post in the Defense Ministry in 2023.
