A Moscow military garrison court has fined Colonel Ivan Mertvichshev, who was responsible for overseeing draft procedures, 400,000 rubles (€4,470) for extortion in the form of attempting to obtain a Bosch washing machine worth 72,000 rubles (€800) as a bribe, Kommersant reports.
Mertvichshev was employed in the main organisational and mobilisation department of the General Staff. He was also banned from serving in official positions for two years.
The colonel was initially charged with receiving a washing machine bribe in exchange for a positive review of a military enlistment office’s operation over the course of the mobilisation in Russia. However, his charge was reclassified as attempted fraud, the newspaper notes.
Mertvichshev confessed that he wanted to make money because he urgently needed a new washing machine after home renovations.
The court took into account several extenuating conditions: the colonel pleaded guilty, fought in Chechnya, and has several military orders. Moreover, Kommersant reports that