Commander of Air Defence Army arrested in grand bribery case

Major General Konstantin Ogiyenko, who headed the Special Purpose Air Defence Army that protects Moscow from air strikes, became a defendant in a grand bribery case.

The criminal case, in which the general could face from 8 to 15 years in prison, was filed in July 2023. Ogiyenko remains in custody. He was removed from office.

According to investigators, Ogiyenko, together with the commander of the 4th Air Defence Division, Major General Dmitry Belyatsky, received 500,000 rubles (about $5,000) from the head of Nadezhda public organisation. The amount was the first part of a grand bribe totalling 30 million rubles ($305,000). In return, the military officials promised to allocate land of the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow suburban towns of Dolgoprudny and Lobnya for development purposes.

Byalyatsky partially pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with investigators. He was placed under house arrest. Ogiyenko refused to plead guilty.

Kremlin's official Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he had no information about the arrest of Major General Konstantin Ogiyenko.

"Unfortunately, I do not have such information. I have no data on this," Peskov said.