Corruption – the worst enemy of Russia’s Armed Forces
In the course of 2008, corruption in the Russian military structures has increased by 250 percent, a Russian defence prosecutor says.
The corruption has costed the Russian military up to 1,6 billion RUB so far this year. That is an increase of 250 percent compared with previous years, Russian defence prosecutor Sergey Fridinskii says to Itar-Tass.
The corruption level is the worst in the military forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, followed by the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Fridinskii says. -Unfortunately, despite measures taken, the level of corruption among soldiers does not decrease, but instead increases, the prosecutor says. This year, 290 officers have been charged in corruption cases.
However, not only officers are caught in bribery. In August this year, also six generals were charged, Newsru.com reports.
In this year’s rating from anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, Russia was number 147 of 180 countries. That is down four places from last year’s rating.
