Russian president replaces senior officials in Defense Ministry in bid to increase transparency

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday appointed several civilian officials as deputies to the defense minister to improve the ministry's transparency following a series of corruption scandals.

According to a decree, published on the Kremlin's website, Deputy Finance Minister Leonid Gornin will assume the post of the first deputy defense minister, while head of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation Anna Tsivileva, a presidential administration official Pavel Fradkov, and auditor of the Accounts Chamber Oleg Savelyev will serve as deputies to the defense minister.

Meanwhile, three deputy defense ministers, Nikolay Pankov, Ruslan Tsalikov, and Tatyana Shevtsova, were dismissed from service.

The reshuffle is intended to combat corruption, strengthen communications with service members on the battlefield and veterans, improve the efficiency of state defense orders, and optimize budget spending.

Last month, five senior Defense Ministry officials were arrested on charges of corruption and abuse of power, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu was replaced by Andrey Belousov, who specializes in economics.