The key facts
- The Vyborgsky District Court has been hearing the case since November 2; the next hearing is on November 18
- According to the investigation, Bazhimov received a 500-thousand-ruble bribe from Andrei Shchelchkov for registering at least 50 contract soldiers
- The case is connected with the PMC
Trial of the former military commissar
A trial has begun in St. Petersburg against Alexander Bazhimov, who previously served as military commissar of the Vyborgsky District. He is accused of taking a bribe of 500 thousand rubles. According to the investigation, the colonel took money for fictitious employment of volunteers recruited into the PMC the course of the trial is covered by Life.ru.
The scheme according to the investigation
The Vyborgsky District Court began hearing the case on November 2. In the dock alongside Bazhimov is Andrei Shchelchkov, a former employee of AO
The scheme according to the investigation
The basis for the investigation was the testimony of Dmitry Antonov, who previously headed the PMC
Circumstances of the bribe
According to the case materials, in November 2024 Bazhimov introduced Antonov to Shchelchkov, deputy general director of AO
Connection with the PMC
The trial of the military commissar is part of a broader investigation into the activities of the PMC sentenced to 18 years in a strict-regime colony: the investigation established that members of the organization deceived volunteers about the terms of service, demanded money from them, and Marushchenko used violence against those who refused to serve or expressed dissatisfaction. In September, the company's former general director Dmitry Antonov was sentenced to five years in prison.
Context of other military corruption cases
The Life.ru article also mentions other recent arrests of military personnel in the region: in Kronstadt, commander of the Leningrad Naval Base, Captain First Rank Alexei Suglobov and head of the naval engineering service, Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Ionov, were detained. They are suspected of receiving multi-million bribes from entrepreneurs for access to Defense Ministry territories and for patronage. This is a separate case, unrelated to the trial of Bazhimov.
