In St. Petersburg, authorities detained Igor Shikhovtsov, who heads the Main Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the city, alongside lawyer Oleg Kasatenko, on suspicions of bribery. The detention was reported by Mash on Moika. The initial information indicates that the lawyer allegedly handed eight million rubles to a colonel of justice in exchange for favorable handling of criminal cases overseen by the police officer. The broadcast did not disclose further particulars about the incident, leaving many questions about the timing, methods, and any potential accomplices unresolved.
Earlier reports note that on November 23 a court in Mordovia found the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ drug department guilty. Investigators stated that in July 2022 a police officer accepted a bribe in exchange for providing official information. The money was transferred to him via a crypto wallet in bitcoins, drawing attention after the first tranche of 2.5 million rubles. The court sentenced the defendant to 12 years in a maximum security penal institution, where confinement will be served in a high-security regime. The case underscores ongoing concerns about corruption within law enforcement structures and the challenges of tracing illicit payments that cross traditional banking boundaries.
A separate development involved the Chelyabinsk Central District Court detaining Alexey Yakovlev on November 21. He serves as Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy and Regulation in the field of developing specially protected natural areas within the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation. An investigation has been initiated on charges that he received more than one million rubles in bribes. The allegations point to a pattern of improper influence tied to environmental regulation and resource management, illustrating how bribe schemes can intersect with governance tasks related to protected lands and natural resources. The case adds to a broader narrative about accountability across ministries and regional administrations, with prosecutors pursuing potential systemic factors that enable corruption to persist at various levels of government.
Earlier in Moscow, authorities reported that a former Deputy Minister of Energy is currently under house arrest. This development highlights that allegations of bribery and misappropriation extend across different sectors of public administration, including energy policy, where decisions can have wide-ranging implications for pricing, supply security, and economic stability. Observers note that the pattern of detentions and court actions signals an intensified effort to combat corrupt practices and to deter officials from abusing entrusted powers. While specifics of this Moscow case were not detailed in the available briefings, legal experts stress the importance of independent investigations, strict evidence standards, and transparent judicial processes to uphold public trust during high-profile prosecutions.