The key facts

  • General Dembitsky has been charged with taking a bribe on an especially large scale and exceeding official powers
  • According to the investigation, he received 4 million rubles from Hawk PMC head Alexei Marushchenko
  • The prosecutor's office is seeking to increase Marushchenko's sentence from 18 to 22 years in a strict-regime colony

Charges against the general and the scheme with a 'non-existent' unit

Russia's Investigative Committee has completed the investigation of the criminal case against Alexander Dembitsky, former commander of the 44th Army Corps of the Leningrad Military District, a general, Kommersant reports. The 53-year-old defendant has been charged with taking a bribe on an especially large scale and exceeding official powers for personal gain. The case has been sent to a court in Kursk Region.

The essence of the charges

According to the investigation, Dembitsky received 4 million rubles from Alexei Marushchenko, head of the Hawk private military company. In exchange, the general was to transfer to Marushchenko the authority to command assault units taking part in the special military operation. The case was opened on the basis of testimony from the PMC head himself.

How the scheme worked

The scheme involved recruiting volunteers into a unit that formally did not exist, which was presented as a flexible structure free of bureaucracy. People signed contracts with the Defense Ministry and were sent to units of the 44th Army Corps, where they effectively came under Marushchenko's command, although he had no military status. In addition, according to the investigation, the PMC leadership extorted money from recruits for paperwork, uniforms, transport and drones — amounts ranged from 30,000 to 200,000 rubles, and the disobedient were subjected to violence; in total, more than 8.8 million rubles was extorted.

The fate of the PMC founder

Marushchenko was previously sentenced to 18 years in a strict-regime penal colony . Now the military prosecutor's office has demanded that the sentence be increased to 22 years: the prosecution believes his crimes against volunteers of the assault units 'hindered the conduct of the special military operation.' Thus, the Dembitsky case and the review of Marushchenko's sentence are proceeding in parallel: whereas previously only the PMC founder had been convicted, charges have now for the first time been brought against an active general who, according to the investigation, gave this structure access to military command.