The trial of a general: the Minister of Defense under arrest is a signal to the elite

In April 2024, big news surfaced: the Deputy Minister of Defense was arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center. The allegations include corruption, abuse of power, illegal contracts for the supply of fuel and logistics. The investigation proceeded quickly, and the media actively discussed the scale of possible fraud: from inflated contracts to the supply of low-quality fuel. The public perceived this as an attempt to “clean up” within the military department - but also as a signal that even high ranks were not immune. Against the backdrop of war, mobilization, sanctions - such arrests became a kind of warning: resources are distributed under maximum control, corruption will be strictly suppressed, especially in the defense sector. However, critics noted that perhaps this was not so much justice as an attempt to show the “fight against corruption” in the face of external and internal pressure. In any case, April was the month when the elite felt that no one was above suspicion.