The former military commandant of Chechnya and his colleagues were convicted of accepting bribes from subordinates

The Rostov garrison military court sentenced reserve lieutenant general Leonid Krivonos, major general Andrei Golovatsky and reserve captain of the Ministry of Defense Vadim Zuev in the case of bribery and fraud, official representative of the prosecutor's office of the Southern Military District Natif Gadzhimetov told TASS.

Krivonos, who was deputy commander of the North Caucasus Regional Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, received 9 and a half years in a maximum security colony. Golovatsky, who held the position of chief of staff of the same command, was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison, while Zuev was sentenced to 7 and a half years.

“The court found convincing the arguments of the state prosecution that Krivonos, Golovatsky and Zuev, as part of an organized criminal group, received money from military personnel and citizens to assist in resolving various personnel issues,” added the representative of the prosecutor’s office.

All three were accused of receiving large bribes (Article 290 of the Criminal Code) and fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code). Golovatsky was also charged with abuse of power (Article 285 of the Criminal Code).

According to investigators, Golovatsky, together with Krivonos and Zuev, received money from the military in 2014 in exchange for a contract extension or a change of duty station, writes the Caucasian Knot. Over the entire period, they received one and a half million rubles, and the amount of bribes ranged from 94 to 250 thousand rubles. In some cases, the generals and the captain did not fulfill their promises, although they were given money. According to the publication, Golovatsky denied his guilt, and Krivonos and Zuev partially admitted it.

In 2007-2010, Leonid Krivonos was the military commandant of Chechnya. A soldier received a shell shock during an attempt on the life of Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov.