DUMA MOVES TO INVESTIGATE MILITARY CORRUPTION.

Russia’s High Command was rocked over the weekend when lawmakers voted 301-0 on July 5 to launch an investigation into reports of widespread embezzlement by military leaders. In addition, the Duma requested an audit of the state arms trading company, Rosvooruzheniye. The Duma investigation comes in the wake of the June 18 dismissal of then defense minister Pavel Grachev and the June 25 sacking of seven top Russian generals, all with ties to Grachev.

The Duma action followed a report to the chamber by General Lev Rokhlin, head of the Duma’s defense committee and a member of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin’s "Russia is Our Home" faction. While the Duma resolution made no specific mention of Grachev, Rokhlin delivered a blistering attack on the former defense minister, describing him as "bogged down in corruption and surrounded by spongers and thieves." Rokhlin, who commanded Russian military operations in Grozny in January 1995, cited a report by the government’s accounting chamber in charging that Grachev had permitted "massive criminal embezzlements in the armed forces." (Reuter, Itar-Tass, July 5)

Naming Names: Generals Accused of Embezzlement.