Halil Arslanov, a former deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, was today sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption, according to the TASS news agency.

A military court found guilty of General Arslanov and his other co -defendants for embezzlement of about 1.6 billion rubles (17.3m euros) from state contracts with Voentelecom, telecommunications provider and related equipment in Russian armed forces.

Arslanov was also found guilty of blackmail and bribery of 12 million rubles (130,000 euros) by the head of the defense communication company.

Two other defendants, Colonel Pavel Kutachov and Igor Yakovlev (retired officer, according to Tass), were sentenced to 7 and 6 years in prison, respectively.

Former head of the Russian Army Transmission Directorate, Arslanov served as chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff from 2013 to 2020.

Russia has been prosecuted lately against senior armed forces officers in the wake of corruption scandals revealed,

A few days ago, former Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov was convicted of corruption and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.