Russia punished nearly 30,000 of its own officials for corruption in a single year amid a mounting crisis for Vladimir Putin‘s war economy.
Putin’s prosecutor-general, Igor Krasnov, told state media on Monday that almost 30,000 officials have been caught and disciplined for breaking anti-graft rules this year.
TASS reported the revelation by Mr Krasnov, who confirmed the figures in an interview with the Russian state media outlet.
He is quoted by Business Insider as saying 500 of the total were fired because of a “loss of trust” and half of all corruption cases involved bribery.
The prosecutor-general is also reported to have said about 200 companies were fined in the first six months of 2024 for attempting to bribe officials.
Experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cite systemic corruption as a threat to Russia‘s defence industrial base (DIB), along with “mounting” economic strain and labour shortages.
The thinktank said: “Russia‘s mounting economic pressures stemming from the war, paired with widespread corruption, labour shortages, and inefficiencies in Russia‘s DIB, will likely compound the cost of Russia‘s war and further undermine its ability to effectively sustain DIB operations while maintaining economic stability.”
Analysts have observed a number of failures on the ground during the war, including claims Russian soldiers sold fuel in Belarus before the invasion and senior officers offered winter clothing for sale to enrich themselves.
Action on Armed Violence reported in August last year that corruption and chronic mismanagement go hand-in-hand, meaning in many instances that Russian troops have gone without the support or resources needed to achieve Russia‘s military objectives.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it has seen the value of its National Welfare Fund crash from £109.7billion ($140bn) to £42.1bn ($53.8bn) by December 1, according to figures cited by CSW from the Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation.
ISW said the path Russia‘s economy is currently on is “unsustainable” in the mid-to-long term, putting an increasing strain on Moscow’s ability to wage war on Ukraine.
Nevertheless, Putin has approved budget plans to raise military spending to record levels next year as Russia seeks to dominate in the war.
About 32.5% of the budget has been allocated to national defence, amounting to £103.2bn (13.5 trillion rubles), up from a reported 28.3% this year.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that Russia has squandered more than £156.8bn ($200bn) in its invasion of Ukraine.
He told an audience at the Reagan National Defence Forum: “Russia has paid a staggering price for Putin’s folly.”