A military court in Russia has convicted Major General Denis Putilov, the former head of the armored vehicle service in the Central Military District, sentencing him to 8.5 years in a high-security penal colony for accepting a substantial bribe related to a defense contract.
The 46-year-old was also demoted and prohibited from holding any senior government positions for six years post-release, according to a statement from the Investigative Committee.
Prosecutors revealed that between 2023 and 2024, the Defense Ministry entered into contracts exceeding 140 million rubles (approximately $1.76 million) with a private contractor, identified as entrepreneur Chudinov, for the repair and maintenance of military vehicles.
As the official responsible for these contracts, General Putilov is said to have accepted a bribe of 10 million rubles ($126,000) from Chudinov in exchange for “general support.”
Investigators found that the contracts were never executed, leading to substantial financial losses for the state.
Putilov’s legal team has announced plans to appeal the ruling to the First Western District Military Court.
His detention occurred in September 2024, only four months after President Vladimir Putin had promoted him to the rank of major general.
Putilov marks at least the eighth senior officer to face scrutiny in a broad anti-corruption initiative that has transformed the military leadership in Russia following the dismissal of long-serving Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last year.
The crackdown has implicated several notable generals, including Dmitry Bulgakov, a former deputy defense minister accused of incurring 1.3 billion rubles ($16.38 million) in damages; Pavel Popov, another ex-deputy minister implicated in embezzlement linked to construction at the Patriot park; and Yury Kuznetsov, the former head of personnel at the Defense Ministry, charged with receiving an 80 million ruble ($1.01 million) bribe.
Additional arrests have included Major General Valery Mumindzhanov, the deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District for logistics, and Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, the deputy chief of the General Staff, who received a seven-year prison sentence in April 2025.
In a related case, Vladimir Shesterov, a former deputy head of the ministry’s innovation development directorate and an associate of Popov, was sentenced to six years. Furthermore, Major General Ivan Popov, a former commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army, was handed a five-year sentence for allegedly stealing metal designated for fortifications in the frontline Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.
