Russian colonel convicted of washing machine bribery

The partial mobilization for the Ukraine war in Russia stalled from the very beginning. So that the commanders in the Russian army did not look bad in front of President Vladimir Putin (70), they sometimes resorted to unusual means.

As the Russian daily newspaper “Kommersant” reported on Tuesday, Colonel Ivan Mertvishchev had to answer in court for bribery. He was responsible for overseeing the recruiting offices in the city.

When Mertvishchev discovered in an office that the number of mobilizations was far below the required target, the colonel resorted to unusual means. He asked the head of the office for a washing machine worth about 1,100 francs. If this meets the requirement, the office would also have passed the inspection, according to the deal.

There is a risk of up to 12 years in prison

Instead of complying with the brutal request, the head of the agency decided to file a complaint with the Russian secret service FSB. As the highest authority, the FSB was primarily responsible for the entire mobilization.

Mertvizhev appeared in court on Tuesday and admitted his attempted bribery. According to “Kommersant”, the colonel is under house arrest and could receive up to 12 years in prison. In addition, it must be investigated whether Mertvishchev has already made similar bribery attempts in the past.

Putin admitted mistakes

After the mobilization in September, 300,000 additional troops were recruited for military service, the Ministry of Defense announced in Moscow in early October. However, there were demonstrations against the mobilization in several Russian regions. Hundreds of thousands of Russians hastily fled abroad to escape military service.

Putin acknowledged mistakes after it became known that men who were not actually eligible for the army had been drafted – because they were studying or sick or too old. (zis)