"I did not extort": why a lieutenant colonel from a military brigade in Voronezh was detained in Kazan

      The deputy commander of the military unit, Stanislav Savvateev, is accused of receiving a bribe in a particularly large amount.

      Photo: Artem Dergunov

      Colonel Stanislav Savvateev was placed on the floor in the headquarters of the Voronezh military unit on April 2 during his detention. Over the weekend, the Kazan garrison military court extended his detention for 72 hours, and yesterday he was arrested in a case involving bribes for transferring contract soldiers to the rear. According to sources from "Realnoe Vremya," the total amount of corrupt rewards amounts to 20 million rubles, and their intermediary from Almetyevsk is already under house arrest. The accused, the head of the technical department and deputy commander of the military brigade for armament, denies his guilt.

      Savvateev denies any connections with Tatarstan.

      Three operatives from the economic police brought Stanislav Savvateev to the military court from the police isolation facility. In the courtroom, he met with the appointed Kazan lawyer, Ainur Garaev, and gave a brief comment on his case. The colonel stated that he is accused of corrupt actions. When asked about the bribes for transferring to the rear, he said: "I did not carry out such actions." He also shared that significant factors are required for such a transfer in practice, such as health status, family circumstances, etc.

      — Then why are you here? — clarified a journalist from "Realnoe Vremya."

      — Mostly due to a setup... I will say this — I did not extort any money from anyone... Stanislav Savvateev has been in contract service since 2005. Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      Savvateev also denied any connections with Tatarstan. He informed the court that he was born 41 years ago in Buryatia. He has been serving under contract for 21 years, since November 2005. Currently, he is in military unit No. 31895 as the deputy commander of the brigade for armament — head of the technical department. He holds the rank of colonel. He is married.

      The meeting considered the petition of the deputy head of the 384th military investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Mikhail Shuravin, to place the serviceman from Voronezh under arrest in the case of receiving a bribe in a particularly large amount. At the request of the senior assistant to the Kazan military prosecutor, the court transferred the process to a closed regime. Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      The senior assistant to the Kazan military prosecutor, Jahongir Abdulkhakov, requested the transfer of the process to a closed regime, indicating that there are documents marked "For official use only" in the materials. The representative of the Investigative Committee, as well as the detainee and his lawyer, supported this position. The presiding judge, Eduard Safonov, granted the petition. To anticipate, on Saturday, the court only extended Savvateev's detention for 72 hours at his request — the detainee asked not to consider the issue of arrest without his contractual defender. On Saturday, the court extended the detention for 72 hours so that the contractual lawyer could make it to the meeting in Kazan. Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      On April 6 in the afternoon, lawyer Sergey Kolomiyets flew to Kazan with the wife of his client. At the meeting, he requested a milder measure of restraint for the colonel, who has two minor children dependent on him. The lawyer refrained from commenting on the substance of the case: "The investigation needs time to sort everything out."

      — My husband is not guilty; he was set up! — stated Savvateev's wife to "Realnoe Vremya."

      According to the woman, the blame was shifted onto the colonel by one of his subordinates — a private who had previously been prosecuted for fraud and signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense to avoid a real sentence. The wife explains that her family lives in a service apartment provided by the unit under social rental conditions and does not possess any luxury items. For participating in combat operations in the SVO zone, Stanislav was awarded the Zhukov and Suvorov medals.

      Having studied the arguments of the parties, the Kazan garrison military court arrested the officer from Voronezh until June 1.

      The investigation's version: bribes for service "away from combat contact."

      FSB officers in Tatarstan detained Savvateev on April 2 in Voronezh, at the headquarters of the 9th Guards Brigade of the command — a military unit of the communications troops of the Russian Ground Forces. After World War II, it was known as the Lviv-Berlin Brigade, awarded the orders of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Alexander Nevsky, and the Red Banner.

      How did this once-renowned army unit get involved in a corruption scandal? The previously released press release from the FSB management in Tatarstan does not answer this question.

      It states that the security service identified a criminal scheme in collaboration with colleagues from the economic police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tatarstan: "A resident of Almetyevsk organized a criminal scheme in which he offered citizens who had signed a contract for military service to transfer a bribe of 1.3 million rubles to military officials for the further service of these citizens in a rear unit, away from combat contact with the enemy."

      If agreed, the alleged organizer would provide the relatives of the servicemen with contacts for transferring the bribe. "The received money was subsequently redistributed among the members of the criminal group," the regional FSB reported. Mobilized citizens from Tatarstan end up not only in Tatarstan's special units but also in military units, whose main location is not the front-line zone. Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      The described narrative does not contain information on whether the bribe-givers received a corrupt service in the form of a transfer to the rear and how many people managed to transfer money. One source from "Realnoe Vremya" notes that the total amount of corrupt contributions was about 20 million rubles. At the same time, a criminal case has been initiated under articles on receiving a bribe and mediating in bribery, and not on fraud. This means that the participants in the scheme tried to fulfill their obligations.

      How? There are nuances. Mobilized citizens from Tatarstan end up not only in Tatarstan's special units but also in military units, whose main location is not the front-line territory but any regions of Russia — Altai Krai, Perm, Voronezh, or Ryazan.

      Savvateev's wife is convinced that he was set up. Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      But besides the main base, each unit currently has other places for grouping forces — whether training camps in another region or combat zones. And the command of the unit has the right to decide independently, without coordination with the Ministry of Defense of the country, whom to transfer from the fighters and where. It was according to this scheme that the identified group operated, shared one of the sources from "Realnoe Vremya."

      Is the Almetyevsk military enlistment office not involved?

      Detentions were carried out by FSB officers in collaboration with colleagues from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tatarstan, and in three regions of Russia at once. In the operational footage, one of the figures can be seen trying to escape in a car, and operatives had to break the windows. The alleged organizer was detained in Almetyevsk, while two others were detained in the Voronezh and Belgorod regions. Their names and positions in the case have not yet been disclosed by the law enforcement agencies. Only one was brought to the Kazan military court for a measure of restraint. Another, they say, was interrogated and released... One of the figures in the high-profile case testified against the military enlistment officer of Almetyevsk. Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      At the same time, "Realnoe Vremya" managed to find out that on April 3, the Vakhitovsky District Court of Kazan placed 41-year-old Vladimir Salnikov, a private entrepreneur from the Almetyevsk district, under house arrest. He is being prosecuted for mediating in a bribe in a particularly large amount.

      One source from "Realnoe Vremya" notes that this entrepreneur appears in two criminal cases: as the one who reported the crime of bribery in the case of the Almetyevsk military enlistment officer Ruslan Korkin and as a mediator in the bribery story involving receiving funds from servicemen. Salnikov's lawyer refused to comment on the details of the prosecution of his client, citing a non-disclosure agreement regarding the case materials.

      At the same time, sources from the publication emphasize that there is currently no information regarding Colonel Korkin's involvement in the corrupt transfer from front-line soldiers to rear soldiers. Colonel Ruslan Korkin does not admit guilt in receiving a bribe. Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      The 700,000 rubles that the military enlistment officer received on April 1 in Almetyevsk is considered by law enforcement as payment for protecting Salnikov's activities in the field of recruiting candidates for contract service. Moreover, according to the special services