Since the start of the war, the number of bribery cases in Russia has almost doubled. The drivers...

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Since the start of the war, the number of bribery cases in Russia has almost doubled. Crimes by military personnel and corruption in the defense industry have driven the growth

The rise in cases of receiving and giving bribes and mediation in bribery, which has continued uninterrupted since 2022, carried on in 2026 as well, “MO” found, after studying Interior Ministry statistics

🔹In January-August 2026, the Interior Ministry registered 7,334 cases of giving a bribe (Article 291 of the Russian Criminal Code) — 12.7% more than in the same period last year. The number of cases of mediation in bribery (Article 291.1 of the Russian Criminal Code) rose by 15.8% — to 2,978.

🔹 Overall, bribery cases have shown steady growth since the start of the war with Ukraine (see the lower charts). In the first three years of the war, the number of cases under Articles 291 and 291.1 increased by 85% and 94%. By the end of 2026, at the current pace of growth, the number of such cases will double.

🔹Bribe-takers are not being pursued as diligently. Cases of receiving bribes increased by 5.3% over eight months. And petty bribe-takers (amounts up to 10,000 rubles) are being caught less and less — the number of cases under this article fell by 21.8%.

👉 Huge military spending has become a driver of corruption, Ilya Shumanov, managing partner at TriTrace Investigations, told “MO” Ilya Shumanov. “This is not only the army and the defense industry, but also construction projects in the occupied territories: opaque schemes, lack of oversight. At the same time, Interior Ministry statistics do not include crimes committed by military personnel at their places of service.”

🔹In just the past few days, there have been several arrests at once for bribes in the army. On Monday, the director of Patriot Park, Igor Vasilyev, was detained, along with two of his deputies. All are accused of receiving bribes on an especially large scale. And on September 30, Major General Sergei Nikitushkin, head of the training and material base department of the Main Combat Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, was arrested. He is also accused of receiving a bribe on an especially large scale.

💰 1 million rubles was the average bribe amount in Russia in 2025, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office. To take the leave from the front that is guaranteed by law, you have to pay commanders 150,000 rubles, Timur Prozorov, a deserter who managed to flee the army and leave Russia, told “MO.”

Read the interview with Prozorov on the website.