Since the start of 2025, 155 high-ranking officials have been arrested in Russia. In just the last two and a half months, from August to mid-October, more than 50 senior officials and lawmakers were detained in corruption cases, including four deputy governors and eight ministers, both incumbent and former.
Those named include former vice-governors of the Sverdlovsk Region and Krasnodar Krai, Oleg Chemezov and Aleksandr Vlasov. Formally, both had already left office by the time criminal cases were opened, but they stepped down immediately before their arrests.
Also detained were former Dagestan Health Minister Tatyana Belyaeva, Vladimir Mayor Dmitry Naumov, the head of the National Guard directorate for North Ossetia Valery Golota, and former Arkhangelsk Region Health Minister Aleksandr Gershtansky, who, the report says, also resigned just days before his detention.
Cases linked to the war
Some of the new criminal cases are directly connected to the war. In particular, the case against acting Kursk Region Deputy Governor Vladimir Bazarov, who previously held a similar post in Belgorod Region, is described as a continuation of investigations into alleged embezzlement during the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine. Investigators say he was involved in stealing budget funds allocated for that work.
Andrei Tyurin, head of a Defense Ministry military representative office, is suspected of signing fictitious documents and disrupting a defense order. Investigators estimate the damage to the ministry at more than 40 million rubles.
Another episode concerns Aleksandr Vlasov. On September 29, 2025, he stepped down and announced that he was leaving for the “special military operation,” but the next day reports emerged that he had been detained on suspicion of large-scale theft of humanitarian aid intended for the operation.
The article says such cases are becoming almost routine in 2025. In the first half of the year, an average of 14 new criminal cases were opened per month; in the second half, that figure rose to 20.