Corruption in Russian army undermines its effectiveness — British intelligence

The UK Ministry of Defence reported the information.

On January 30, the independent Russian outlet Verstka conducted an investigation that revealed corruption schemes and a system of bribery among the Russian military and their commanders.

"Bribes were given or demanded for various 'services' such as: leave, certification of physical training, military rank, driver licenses, and avoiding disciplinary action against soldiers for using smartphones or who get drunk," the report said.

Following February 2022, the set of "services" expanded to include certificates of injury, awards for participation in a "special military operation" and avoiding being sent on a combat mission.

Intelligence suggests that this can be very lucrative for corrupt officers. Verstka published the going rates for these 'services,' ranging from 40,000 rubles to avoid being sent to the front line to 1 million rubles for an injury certificate.

In addition, the intelligence service said that the issue of corruption in the Russian army is a long-standing problem and recalled how journalist Dmitry Kholodov, who investigated military corruption in the 1990s, was killed in Moscow in 1994.

"It is likely that corruption significantly undermines the effectiveness of the Russian military. There is only a remote chance that significant progress will be made in reducing corruption levels," the intelligence service suggested.

• In 2023, Ukraine experienced a three-point improvement in the corruption index, advancing to the 104th position. Meanwhile, Russia set another anti-record and Hungary received the lowest score among EU countries.